50 Oneshots Challenge
by Cx3
Summary: The title explains it! 50 oneshots for the Lunar Chronicles! Cover image by Mirrors-Never-Lie on Tumblr. Includes all TLC Shipweeks entries. (Rated T for some kissing) [DISCONTINUED]
1. Chapter 1

*****UPDATED* I have changed this 100 oneshots challenge into a 50 oneshots challenge. Explanation in chapter 42. So yes, further chapters up to 42 do say [(number)/100], and also old authors notes, which I apologize for! I've matured since then. Because I do not have all my chapters saved and able to be replaced, Further on chapters will have to simply stay that way.. I apologize for the inconvenience.  
****

 ** **50 Oneshots Challenge****

 **By: Cx3**

 **NOTE: Hello every reader! This is my 100 oneshots challenge. It's pretty self-explanatory but I'll explain it anyway. I'm going to write 100 oneshots based on The Lunar Chronicles! Some may be really short, and some my be longer. Some may be fluffy, and some may be angsty ;) Anyway, I DO NOT OWN THE LUNAR CHRONICLES!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

Thorne scratched his head and sucked in a breath. "Ummm..."

Cress gave him a look. A look that he did not want to see on her face in a million years. His heart rate picked up and he felt a twinge of something in his stomach.

"Captain," she said in a small voice. "Why?"

Her big blue eyes looked sad yet curious. He realized that he was still holding the loose papers that made up her journal.

"Just checking to see if I could still read." His voice was shaky. That was the weakest excuse he came up with, and he'd given a weak excuse once or twice in his lifetime.

"So you couldn't read Cinder's journal? Thorne, you had no right to read my personal diary."

He cringed at his last name. He never did that, but he was so used to Cress calling him Captain. Oh how he loved when she did that...

"Wait, Cinder has a journal too?" He hated himself for asking a question like that at a time like this.

It seemed like several hours had gone by as she glared at him. He felt a himself blush as he felt another twinge of something. Except, this time it was so much worse. Guilt?

"I'm so sorry." He looked down. His ego had been killed. He wanted to hug her and say how sorry he was. He hadn't thought about the consequences he would face if he was caught, as always.

He walked out her room and went to the ship's engine room, where he knew he'd be alone. How could he be so stupid?! He could only think about how angry Cress was at him when another question popped into his mind. _Why did he care so much?_

He found Cinder and Kai in the engine room. They didn't even notice him, as they were deep in conversation.

He slid down the wall and put his head in his hands. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! His anger flared and he wanted to punch a wall.

When he looked up after calming down a few minutes later, he saw the two kissing _very_ passionately. He walked up to them and smiled at the thing he was about to do. They didn't notice, as their eyes were closed. Then he said in a extra loud voice-

"Do you keep a journal, Cinder?"

 **NOTE: I hope this wasn't horrible. There's going to be 99 more of these. Stay tuned if you liked this!**


	2. Chapter 2

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **By: Cx3**

 **NOTE: Thank you so much for all the positive feedback! I personally think that the last chapter was a bit rough, so I'm going to (Hopefully) make up for it in this chapter. At first I wasn't a huge fan of Jacinter, but I'm warming up to it now. Yup! you guessed it! This chapter has just a bit of Jacinter in it. I apologize if these are too short for your liking, but they're only oneshots after all.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

Jacin looked out the window. The dull color of the sky was the same, the city crowds were the same, almost everything was the same.

Except for the adorable princess pulling hard on his arm.

"Please?" Winter dragged the word out like a little kid would.

"Princess, you have to go to the trial."

"Trial-shmile. I want to have fun!"

He made sure his face was blank, as it always had to be. If it didn't he'd be smiling at her childlike innocence. Her dark eyes were wide and some of her curls were out of place from struggling to pull him out of his always-ready stance.

"You know that the queen requires you to come to them."

Winter's smile faded into a frown, her lip sticking out and her eyes glared at the wall. "I hate being at trials. They're depressing."

Jacin let a sigh out. "I know. I'll be right outside the door. Then I _might_ play with you."

Her face lit up and she wrapped her arms around him. "Yay!"

 **~)0(~**

The trial was long. Much longer than usual. After counting the plants and statues in the long hallways three times, making guesses about the length from the door to the third and fourth nearest room, and staring at his feet for a half-hour, Jacin grew bored. So bored he even tried practicing his gift on his hand, which would technically be breaking the rules. They had to be able to be easily controlled at all times, and using a glamour strengthened his resistance to it.

The trial ended ten minutes after that, to Jacin's delight. Winter came out quickly while still maintaining a near-perfect posture. Her look was neutral, but when she looked at him it turned sad. He followed her to where they were before the trial started.

She didn't speak at all, much to Jacin's surprise. She usually talked his ear off about the trial on their way to the room. It wasn't normal for her to be mute like this.

She stopped abruptly. "Jacin!" Her expression filled with fear and she said his name much louder than she needed to.

"What's wrong?" He asked, going to her side instantly.

"The blood is feeding it! It's getting bigger! Jacin, it's going to eat me!"

She was having a hullucination. And by her frantic voice he could tell it was much worse than usual. He did the first thing he thought to do: he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Stay with me, princess. Listen to my voice. It's not real. You're fine, you're fine."

The fear on her face left after another minute of him speaking softly to her. She turned around and looked at him. "It's leaving! Thank you, Jacin!"

He withdrew his hands, realizing that he didn't remove them. Didn't _want_ to move them.

"Of course, Princess."

It was then when he vowed to never touch her like that again.

 **NOTE: I like this chapter much better, but that's just my opinion. Hope it boosted and didn't kill your Jacinter side ;)**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! I love reviews!**

 **~Cx3**


	3. Chapter 3

**100 Oneshots challenge**

 **[3/100]**

 **Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Seriously! I've got a record amount of reviews in one day.** **This project is really scary, to be honest, but its really fun because I'm not bound to one theme and can write whatever. This chapter is post-war.**

 **~)0(~**

Scarlet frowned. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I'm sorry. It's just I'm not ready."

"Will you tell me one day?" Scarlet gave him a pleading, innocent look. Her bottom lip stuck out slightly, her eyebrows turned up, and her posture was slouched as she looked up. It was the look he never said no to.

Wolf looked down at her.

"Okay. But like I said, I'm not ready."

Scarlet smiled and kissed his cheek. Wolf gave a small grin back, but Scarlet sensed it was forced. His lips were pressed together tightly and his jaw was clenched.

"I'm going to go get some lunch. Do you want to come with?"

"Not right now."

"Are you sure? It's been a whole three hours since you ate something," Scarlet joked. He nodded. "Your choice."

She headed down the stairway and into the farmhouse's kitchen. Scarlet had moved back into the house after the revolution, and to her surprise, Wolf had agreed to come back to France with her.

Scarlet had an operation on her small finger right when she returned to Earth. The emperor had provided the funding for the surgery and was even able to get her finger pre-loaded with bullets so she didn't have to carry around a gun. It wasn't very strong at long range, but it could do damage when her target was close. It did bother her that she had to aim with her small finger, but she appreciated that she actually could _have_ a weapon.

When she finished lunch she decided to check the newsfeeds. She headed to the recliner and put her feet up before turning on her portscreen. All of them had nothing new since the end of the successful revolution except for a few gossip columns about Kai and Cinder's coming baby. It hadn't took long after their wedding for them to tell the world, and now nearly every person was talking about it.

 _Thud._ Scarlet's head shot up at the noise. She put the devise down and went toward the room where she heard the noise, ending up in the kitchen. No one was in sight but there was a piece of paper on the table that wasn't there when she ate lunch. Picking it up, she saw handwriting that was barely legible.

 _Z_

 _Scared of what she'll think  
_ _He hides behind a thick mask  
_ _Until the truth shows_

She realized it was a haiku. A type of poem a history textbook had mentioned when Scarlet was learning about second-era cultures.

She found Wolf outside, walking through the lettuce fields. It was still early in the growing season, so the crops were still small. She jogged to him.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"So," she said. "I didn't know you were into poetry, Wolf."

Wolf stopped walking. "I'm not. who told you that?"

"You left the poem on the table. You know, you're the only other person who stays here. I don't think the androids or the barn cats would write it. I also don't think that some stranger walked in and said, _hey, I better leave this poem on this table_."

Wolf let out a small laugh. "I think that some barn cat _did_ write that. I've been out here for about an hour."

"Do you swear on my cyborg finger that you don't know who wrote this?"

"Have I lied to you befo-" He stopped speaking when he realized the answer to that question was a _yes._

She glared at him and walked away, knowing that she'd get the answers she wanted later. In the distance, she heard Wolf let out a breath.

She got back to the house quickly and headed to her room, where she found another piece of paper lying on her pillow. _Oh great,_ she thought, _the cat left another note_. Rolling her eyes, she picked up the paper.

 _E'_

 _Does that disguise fade? I think it shall.  
Despite the best efforts of one who thickens the veil._

The poem was only two lines this time. At least she was able to understand what these poems meant. Wolf was revealing his name. Scarlet was smarter than he thought. Unfortunately he had underestimated her intelligence level. She smiled and decided to play along with it.

 **~)0(~**

Scarlet didn't find any more poems until the evening, when she and Wolf were watching dramas after a long day. She found it stuffed in between the couch cushions when Wolf went to the bathroom. By the looks of the paper, it'd been stuffed there for quite a long time. It wasn't as sophisticated as the other ones, but it made her smile.

 _EV_

 _She sought out the answers  
Did she find them?  
Her cleverness should help her find it  
If she looks close enough  
_

At the bottom of the paper, a note was written.

 _Did you figure it out?_

She did figure it out. Ze'ev.

Wolf came back a minute later and sat down next to her, not saying anything. Scarlet paused the drama and spoke. "I thought you weren't into poetry, _Ze'ev."_

He turned to her, his eyes wide. "You figured it out!" He exclaimed.

"Of _course_ I did. I'm a _Benoit._ Did you forget already?"

She surprised herself by giving him a kiss. A sweet, light one. And he kissed her right back.

They parted. "Of course I remembered." And then he kissed her again.

 **NOTE: WHEW! This is one HECK of a chapter! It took me two and a half hours. I hope its not horrible. I'm really sorry if its not your expectations. (I'm not that good at poetry)  
**

 **Please review if you have the time!**

 **~Cx3**


	4. Chapter 4

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[4/100]**

 **NOTE: Thank you again for the awesome reviews! You guys rock! I'm going to try to post these daily until the end of August, when I'm going on a vacation to a foreign country! Then school starts in September, but I try not to think about that because I like the summer too much :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

Cress's breath was taken away when she walked into the grand palace. It was spectacular! And the ceiling was so _tall._

"Look at how tall this place is, Jay!" Cress squeaked to her boyfriend, Jay.

She started going out with Jay recently. It had taken a while for her to start dating again after her first breakup with the one and only Captain Carswell Thorne. After dating for a year, Cress had discovered that Thorne had been cheating on her with another girl. It took time for her heart to heal after that, but it did eventually.

Jay put an arm around her. "I can see that."

They were going to a get together with the old group, and because she and Thorne were the only two not married, they were both allowed to bring one guest. Cress had no idea who Thorne would bring. They both hadn't spoken since their breakup. Probably another "victim" as she liked to call the girls who had felt the same emotions as she had.

They were close to the ballroom, and when Cress looked out the window, the view was almost as gorgeous as the palace itself. It was the golden hour, and the city was bathed in beautiful light. There were no clouds in the sky to ruin the moment.

"Looked how pretty it is," Cress breathed, gesturing for Jay to come to the window. "It's so breathtaking."

"Just like you," Jay responded.

Cress looked at him and smiled. They made it to the ballroom shortly after that.

When the big doors were open, Cress saw that everyone was already there. She grinned and walked over to them, Jay following her.

Iko was the first to notice her. "Cress! You're here, you're here!" Iko exclaimed, jumping up and down. Everyone else turned to her with warm smiles.

"Hey, Cress," said Cinder, who was standing next to Kai. They all gave her words of greeting.

All except Thorne.

She tried her hardest to avoid eye contact with Thorne. She was successful for the most part, but she could still sense the tension between them. Thorne seemed to have not brought a guest, to Cress's surprise. She could've sworn that he'd have ten girls swooning over him only allowed into the palace because Cinder and Kai were so generous.

The conversation between them was nice, everyone having stories to tell to fill up the silence.

The group moved to the dining room for a celabratory feast after catching up.

"Can you _belive_ that storm blew some of Scarlet's roof off?" Cress said to Jay in the hallway.

Jay didn't respond. He was staring at a palace worker in the distance. She carried towels, but the pile didn't hide her high cheek bones, dark eyes, and long glossy black hair. Cress waited patiently for his response, but he continued to stare at her as she passed them.

"Jay?" Asked Cress. "Are you there?"

His head snapped to her. "Of course. And yes."

"Do you even know what I asked?"

"Maybe." His lips pursed. That's what they did when he lied. Cress frowned but let the subject drop.

She looked back quickly, and saw Thorne staring right at them. He quickly looked away when he saw her gaze. Thorne hadn't been talking that much, to everyone's surprise. He usually preferred to be the star of the conversation, as far as Cress knew.

The banquet was delicious. Cress hadn't ever eaten anything so good, and by halfway through the second course, she was already full.

Jay scooted his chair out.

"If you'll excuse me, Cress," Jay murmured before walking out. Cress assumed it was to use the restroom. She had to go too, actually.

Excusing herself, she followed after Jay.

Cress briskly walked down the hall, admiring the architecture, but gasped when she turned the corner. Jay was there, in the hall.

Flirting with the palace worker from before.

Cress didn't know whether to be furious or sad. A mixture of both seemed to churn in her stomach. She _couldn't_ go through a broken heart again. It would break her for who knows how long.

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Jay," she said, her voice barely louder thank a whisper. "How _could_ you?"

He turned to her, his eyes widening. "Cress, I-"

Cress didn't hear the end of what he said. She ran down the hall, tears flowing freely. After all this time, when he knew, _he knew,_ that Thorne had done the same thing, he went ahead and did it anyway.

She didn't know where she went, only that it was far away from _him._ Stopping when her heart began to beat fast and her breathing became deep gasps, she realized she was lost and in a secluded empty hallway.

Sliding down the wall, she allowed herself to cry as loud as she wanted, not even trying to stifle the sobs that escaped her mouth. How could he _do_ that to her!

"Are you alright?" The sudden deep voice startled her, making her jump. She didn't see who it was, only put her head down and nodded.

The stranger sat down next to her. "You don't look alright."

Cress couldn't speak without sobbing all over again, so she just shrugged.

"Why are you sad?"

She sobbed again, and tried her best to say, "I can't speak." It came out muffled, but he seemed to get the message.

"Why did that jerk do that to you?" He said gently.

"Y-y-you kn-o-ow?" She mumbled.

She finally turned to him. Now that she cleared her eyes out, she could see features she'd recognize anywhere. It made her sob more at the thought that he did the same thing.

"Shhhhh. It's okay. You're okay," he cooed. He started rubbing her back.

"You d-did the s-same thing!" She tried to say.

A look of hurt flashed in his eyes. "I know. But... Oh stars, this is hard to say. I'm so sorry, Cress. More sorry than the universe itself. I miss you. I was so stupid then." He paused and looked at her.

"I've grown so much, though. I haven't dated since we broke up, because I only want _you._ I just hope that you can forgive me someday."

Cress tried to give him a smile. "You still c-care about me?"

"I've never stopped caring for you and never will."

He pulled her into his lap and kissed the top of her head.

"C-Captain?" Cress asked.

"Yes?"

"I think I can forgive you. In f-fact, I already had; b-because I still care about you too."

 **NOTE: I think I need to stop writing Cresswell. Except I can't.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **~Cx3**


	5. Chapter 5

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[5/100]**

 **NOTE: I think I'm going to start writing chapters like crazy while I still don't have writer's block. IT WILL HAPPEN! Thank you again for the lovely reviews! I love them so much! Oh, a huge shout out to my beta reader! You're awesome!  
**

 **Remember to review if you enjoyed or have a comment!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

 **AU: Cinder is famous and Kai is not. (Almost a profession switch but not for both of them)  
**

Cinder stared at her feet, positive that other people in the marketplace were watching her. "Um, sure," she said to the kid who wanted her autograph. She took the pen and signed the picture.

Was she the only one who thought it was creepy that people had pictures of her?

All she had done was let her opinion be made about cyborg rights and discrimination, and now suddenly she was famous? She didn't act, didn't sing, only had a way with words. Now people kept saying to her that she was _"their hero."  
_

From then on every time she went out in public, there were people taking pictures of her and asking for her autograph. Especially when she was trying to do ordinary things in public.

After giving out about five hundred she started to just use her initials _L C._

The little kid gave her a hug, and she just akwardly stood there while she bounced.

"I'm so happy!" The child exclaimed. "My friends will be so jealous!"

Cinder ducked into an uncrowded street and in between two small booths. When she checked and saw that no crazy fan had followed her, she allowed herself a moment to breath and sat down near the smaller booth of the two she was in between.

She put her head in her hands. _Stupid Adri,_ she thought. _So stupid for making me post my diary to the net._

Her opinions were, in fact, written originally in her journal. When Adri had snooped through her stuff and unfairly read her secret thoughts without her knowing, she made Cinder post them for the whole world to see. _"It'll give you a good repuatation since your... extra parts... don't,"_ she had said.

And here she was, running away from children and cameras.

"Excuse me," a male voice said. "Can I help you?"

She looked up and stood quickly, dusting herself off. The boy had copper brown eyes and tousled hair.

"I'm sorry, was this your booth?" Cinder said quickly. "I'll just be heading this way-"

"Wait, you're Linh Cinder-" Cinder cut him off back.

"Can you, um, be a little quieter when you say who I am?" She tried to say it politely, but to some it could've come off as insulting. "I'm trying to keep a low profile."

He gave a respectful nod. "Sorry."

"You don't happen to know what to do if your getting stalked, do you?" She said with a smile. "Because about 500 people are doing that right now."

"Well, you could hide out in the back of my booth. I'd be happy to get what you need," he said. His offer seemed genuine.

"Really!?" Cinder said a little to loudly.

"Sure. I mean, who has the opportunity to say: H _ey everyone! A famous person hid in the back of my booth to escape from people."_

She would've blushed if she could, but instead she smiled and laughed it off, swearing she could see his ears turning a shade darker.

He held out his hand. "I'm Kai, by the way."

She shook his hand with her metal one. At least she had gloves on to hide the iron plating.

The booth turned out to be a mechanic's shop. It was dirty, filled with parts she didn't know the name of, and smelled like rubber and grease.

And she _loved_ it.

The back was private, and while it wasn't quiet, it gave her a sense of safety.

"I really like your booth. Are you the only employee?" She asked.

"Yup. At least, the only mechanic. I have some friends that help occasionally."

"That's amazing."

She walked over to the cyborg section, barely noticing that Kai was staring at her. She saw several parts and small limbs.

She picked up a hand. A shiny, sleek metal hand that would fit her just right if she had it.

"How much for the hand?" She asked.

"Well, because it's titaniam plated, has a flashlight, a tranquilizer dart gun, and knife in the fingers, it's 7,000 univs."

 _"Seven thousand univs?!"_ She exclaimed. She didn't have nearly that much, even if she was famous!

Kai thought about something for a moment, Cinder could tell by his expression. Then beamed when he finished.

"How about you work it off! You can pay for it with what you have now, and then you can work off the rest," he said, winking at her.

Cinder considered his offer. It _did_ sound really good. How could she turn down an offer to work with him? He _was_ good looking and really sweet.

"If you're _really, really_ sure that you want me to work for you, then how could I decline an offer like that?" She said with a smirk.

"I guess we have a deal, then. Come before eight tomorrow morning and I'll show you the ropes then."

She gave him a big grin before they went to the front of the booth to pay for the hand. "Before I forget, would you mind getting..." She gave him the list of what she needed.

He began to walk out. "Oh! Before I go get the stuff, do you want me to put the hand on? I can do it really quick."

Her heart rate picked up and warnings popped up in her vision. She was self conscious about exposing her wiring, especially to people she barely knew. But she spoke before her brain could process her situation correctly.

"Sure. **"**


	6. Chapter 6

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[6/100]**

 **NOTE: I put too many smiley faces. Everywhere. And before you tell me, yes, they are _that_ oblivious to what's going on in this chapter. I'll be singing hallelujah when I finally figure out how to fix a rushed pace.  
**

 **Review! You guys are awesome!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

The tears of frustration and anger poured out against her will.

"I just can't do this anymore! Why don't you help me?" Scarlet shouted to Wolf.

"I don't understand what you want help with! I thought you could do it on your own!"

Her tone was icy. "Yes, but when you saw me struggling and didn't _do_ anything, it made me very upset."

"But you said you could lift it on your own!" He countered.

Scarlet's eyes narrowed. Wolf didn't respond.

No more words were exchanged for another few moments until Scarlet broke the silence.

"Well don't just stand there! I thought the man I married gave me his vow to always be there! Guess not!" She stormed out of the room in a child like fashion, hearing Wolf retort, but she took no notice to it.

That was the day that it started. The onslaught of wild, sudden mood swings, strange cravings, and the _crying!_ Oh the endless tears...

Luckily, Wolf dealt with it in a positive mannerism. He was by her side, every moment, trying his best to calm her down. Neither of them understood _why_ it happened, only that it was putting a strain on their relationship.

 **~)0(~**

It was about three weeks after her first incident. Scarlet was unsuccessfully attempting to rest, even though it was three A.M. Something had awakened her, and when she rolled over, she realized their bed was empty. Sitting up, she felt a wave of nausea and dizziness and scuttled to the bathroom, throwing up all contents in her stomach. Clutching her abdomen, she went back to the bedroom and remembered that Wolf wasn't there.

Determined to investigate, she sneakily walked down the stairs. She heard the hushed voices when she was barely halfway down the stairs. Two of them were coming from a netscreen, she realized.

"... Don't know what to do," Wolf said.

"Well, you just have to deal with it," said another voice. It was familiar. Then it clicked; Thorne!

"Yeah. I mean, Cinder acts like that sometimes, but it is only because of her... cycle." It was Kai's voice. Scarlet could practically _hear_ him shudder. "You say this has been happening for a few weeks?"

"Yeah. I'm trying my best to deal with it, but it keeps happening over and over."

Scarlet was so intrigued with the conversation that she barely noticed that they were talking about her behavior. And now that she actually thought about it, she was actually _offended_ that they were talking about her in such a way. How many times had Wolf done this?! She couldn't call his injustices right now, but she vowed to confront him in the morning.

"Speaking of that it, do you know if it's her time?" Thorne asked. He sounded uncomfortable, just like Kai.

"As far as I know, no," Wolf replied.

There was an extended pause. Scarlet held her breath.

"Wait, wait, wait. Do you think she's pregnant?" Asked Kai suddenly.

Realization hit Scarlet like a brick wall. The crying, the cravings. Oh.

 _Oh._

She ran back up the stairs, not caring what they said next. She'd been married to Wolf for less than a year! How could she be pregnant _already_?

It _was_ a possibility. One that she hadn't considered.

 **~)0(~**

The test confirmed it. She even used two, just for reinforcement. Now all she had to do was break the news to Wolf.

She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Wolf was looking something up on his portscreen.

"I have to tell you something," she said, descending down in to the chair across from him.

"Are you okay?" He asked lovingly, putting his portscreen down.

"I think so, but I have something I need to tell you" she replied, looking strait into his eyes, blatantly stating, "I'm pregnant, Wolf."

He didn't respond. The look on his face was neutral and he stared through Scarlet.

"Ummm..." she said, trying to get a reaction out of him.

Wolf finally looked at her and, surprisingly, was grinning from ear to ear, exposing his sharp canines.

"Scarlet... I don't know what to say. That's amazing!"

She let out a breath of relief. "You're happy?"

"Of course I am! How could I not be?" He got up and embraced her.

After a moment, she remembered when he was talking to Thorne and Kai at 3 A.M.

"Hey Wolf, do you talk to people at three in the morning often?"

 **NOTE: I'm sorry this is late. I've been having a really good day and forgot to post in the morning! Thank my friend, Unidragocorn, for the rewording. Otherwise the vocab would be a lot more simple.  
**

 **~Cx3**


	7. Chapter 7

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[7/100]**

 **NOTE: I'm not giving up yet! 3 Am writing sessions brought this chapter to you! Thank an uncomfortable small couch, my sister banning me from sleeping in my room, and a fully charged Ipad. I can't say enough thank yous to all you guys! Anyway, review if you like or have a comment, as always.  
**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

 **AU: (Sort** **of... more of a situation) The gang wasn't able to get Kai like at the end of Cress. What would they do then? This is just a quick glimpse of right after they escaped on the Rampion.  
**

She was in her room. Her boring, dull room. How could the plan not have worked? They had the whole thing planned out! Now they had no Kai, no Dr. Erland, and Scarlet was _still_ on Luna.

Could it get any worse?

Cinder felt the pounding headache come on like she was hit over the head with a brick. She might as well not hide away if she wanted to get some things done.

She found Thorne and Cress in the cockpit. Seeing Cress's intent expression made her decide not to inturrupt. Instead, she found Wolf in the medbay trying to stitch his chest wound.

"Wolf!" She went over to him. "You shouldn't be doing that yourself! Here, let me help you."

She walked over to the small sink and started to wash her hands.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine," he insisted.

"You are _not_ fine. Now hand me the needle," Cinder replied with her hand out.

He didn't object, just sighed. Cinder quickly looked up how to put in stitches. It would be easy enough for her to handle.

It went too quickly to keep her distracted.

Thorne was still in the cockpit, even though Cress wasn't anymore. She sat down in the co-pilot chair with a thud. "What are we going to _do_?" She asked.

He stared into space another moment before responding. "Go start a revolution on Luna? Now _that_ would be interesting."

"That's ridiculous. Can you try to take this one thing seriously?" She tried to reply as calmly as she could. "Levana _has what she wants!_ _"_

Thorne stared blankly at her for a moment. "Cinder, listen. I know that you're stressed out, but right now we can't do anything. It's not like we can go back to Earth for a while to do anything anyway."

The idea made her shudder. How could she just _not_ do anything?

"As much as I hate to say it, Thorne's right," said Wolf's unexpected voice. Cinder turned around and saw him standing in the door frame. She surprised herself for not having felt his bioelectricity sooner. She felt so _useless_ right now.

"Can't we at least get Cress and _try_ to make a plan B?" Cinder asked. She felt that if they had a _goal,_ something to focus on, then she would forget the fact that Kai was married to her aunt. _Her Aunt for the star's sake!_

Thorne sighed. "Will it make you feel better?"

"Yes. Yes it would." She began rocking on her heels.

Cress walked in, holding Thorne's eye drops. "What'd I miss?"

"Cinder wants to make a new plan," Thorne replied to her.

Cress nodded and walked towards him.

"Then let's make another plan," said Cinder.

 **NOTE: It's really short, but it's only a small glimpse of what might've happened. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT THE ARCHIVE REACHED 300 STORIES ALREADY!? I remember when there was, like 250. I'll have to write something to celebrate! An anniversary for a pairing, maybe? Why don't you guys tell me which one you would like to see for the celebration chapter lol :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[8/100]**

 **NOTE: I'm back! I needed a breather. Writing so much constantly took a toll on some of my health, but I'm better now (Let's just say I lost A LOT of sleep). So many people wanted a Kaider anniversary chapter, so I'm going to do that when I'm a tenth of the way done to celebrate, well, that I'm a tenth of the way done :)**

 **So remember to review as always! I'm glad you're all liking this!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

"Your birthday is soon, isn't it?" Asked Kai.

"Yes, why?"

"Just wondering," he replied, a mischievous grin appearing on his face.

She looked at him and her brow furrowed. "You better not be planning anything. It's never been a special occasion and never will be."

"But Cinder-" He whined.

"No."

He frowned but didn't keep pushing.

Cinder had been living in the palace for nearly a year, now, and Kai relished every second that she was there. He constantly made sure that she was comfortable and happy.

And that he loved her. Because he _did_ love her. It hadn't taken the whole year to realize that.

Now that he just finished a meeting to discuss security and Cinder was planning next week's events, he decided to make a few comms.

 **Kai: Anyone realize that Cinder's Birthday is in 3 days?**

It hadn't taken long for the others to respond.

 **Thorne: Yup. Cress and I have been planning her gift for a week. Have you? ;)**

 **Cress: Don't be ridiculous. It took five minutes to figure out what to send.**

 **Thorne: Well you weren't supposed to tell him!**

 **Kai: What...?**

 **Scarlet: Let me guess, she said not to make it a big deal but you're doing that anyway?**

 **Kai: How'd you know?**

 **Scarlet: Cyborg programming. Wait, no, I'm physic.**

 **Winter: You should throw her a party that's a surprise! Don't tell her about it and be all calm, then at the end of the day we'll all say SURPISE!**

 **Thorne: You mean a surprise party? That's actually a pretty good idea.**

 **Scarlet: I agree with WINTER. Not you, Thorne.**

 **Thorne: Ouch.**

 **Cress: That's a good idea.**

 **Kai: So you guys all agree on the surprise party? I don't know... It sounds child-ish.**

 **Jacin: I'm with Kai on this one. Sorry, Trouble.**

 **Winter: It's okay.**

 **Kai: Guess I don't have a choice. Do you guys want to come?**

 **Scarlet: We'll be there.**

 **Cress: It's really expensive to go there, but we'll try, right Captain?**

 **Thorne: We can try...**

 **Kai: I can provide the funding for you guys.**

 **Thorne: Told you Cress!**

 **Kai: Excuse me?**

 **Kai: Never mind.**

 **Winter: I'll have to clear it up with my adviser. We might be able to make it!**

 **Kai: Thanks guys! See you soon!**

Kai shut down his netscreen. He had a party to plan.

 **~)0(~**

All their friends were able to come, and would stay for the week. It would be useless to travel so far and only stay for the day.

The party itself would be only partially classy. They all weren't _that_ old after all. It was still early, only 6000, but now was the time when he had to get up anyway.

He reached out and brushed Cinder's face with his hand. She let out a long groan.

"Morning, beautiful," he said to her, swearing he could see her crack a small smile. She let out a sigh and drifted out of consciousness again, her slightly raised head falling back into the pillow. He'd let her sleep in. It was her birthday, after all.

A few hours later, Nainsi rolled into his office. "A few of the guests have arrived. Would you like me to take them to the guest wing?"

Kai stood up. "No, I'll escort them personally, thanks."

He found Scarlet and Wolf waiting for him. "Scarlet! Wolf! Hello!" He walked over to them. "Nice to see you. Cinder's still in bed, but I'll show you to your room."

"Thank you, your Majesty," said Wolf, shaking his hand.

"I thought we established this. You can call me Kai."

"He's just being polite," said Scarlet, lightly punching Wolf in the shoulder. "It's nice to see you too, Kai."

The others came later throughout the day. He was able keep them away from Cinder, luckily. On the other hand of that luck, Winter and Jacin weren't able to come. They had too any meetings to attend that were just too important. Their arrival probably would've caused too much attention anyway.

The time came for them to celebrate. He'd left her a note to come to the ballroom at 1800.

"I'm so excited!" Cress exclaimed. Thorne came up behind her and pulled her into his arms.

"I can tell," he said with a chuckle.

"Watch the PDA, please," Wolf told them from across the room.

All of them burst out into a fit of laughter until Kai heard footsteps in the hall. "Sh, guys! She's coming."

They held their breath.

The door opened.

"SURPRISE!"

 _ **To be continued...**_

 **NOTE: Do you know why I wrote a birthday chapter?! BECAUSE MY BIRTHDAY IS ON SUNDAY! I'm turning *Looks at watch to stall time* 13. I feel soooo old! Hello awkward teenage years...  
**

 **lol**

 **I'm going on vacation for my birthday, so I won't be able to update for a few days. Sorry :(:**

 **~Cx3**


	9. Chapter 9

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[9/100]**

 **NOTE: 'Ello! I'm back! School started. I'm sad, but I'll still make time to write. Plus the sight was partially down the other day, so I couldn't work on the chapter.**

 **Without further ado...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

 _They held their breath.  
_

 _The door opened._

 _"SURPRISE!"_

She jumped a mile in the air as all of them jumped out of their seats. Except Kai noticed something as soon as she walked into the room.

It wasn't Cinder.

It was a palace worker. Leah, the one in charge of the cleaning crew. She had short black curls that reached her shoulders, dark eyes, and a constant perfect posture.

"Wait... where's Cinder?" Asked Thorne.

Leah gave a bow. "Pardon me, your majesty, but Linh Cinder had to leave unexpectedly to go to a funeral."

"Who's funeral?" Asked Kai, partially desperate for answers. Dissapointment washed through him. This was not supposed to happen! Why would she go to a funeral today of all days, when he had thought he planned every move.

"Linh Adri's funeral, sir. She died from a gangreneous bowel. There was too much decayed tissue for her to be saved."

"But why would she go to _Adri's_ funeral? From what she told me not too long ago she _hated_ her," pipped up Cress, who looked confused and sad.

"I'm sorry, but the only other information I was told was the address."

"Can we have it?" Asked Scarlet, whipping her portscreen out and pulling up a writing application.

"Of course." Leah smiled and wrote the address on Scarlet's portscreen.

"Thank you, Leah," said Kai before she left the room.

Thorne plopped down in a chair. "What do we do now? I didn't really think to pack funeral-appropriate clothes. And like Cress said, why would she go to _Adri's_ funeral?"

"She probably moved on from her past and decided to be nice," answered Kai. It seemed like Cinder to do that.

"I don't think we should crash Adri's funeral. Maybe we should just give her a nice gift. We have the ones we brought, but I think they could be better. One that won't make her hate us, though. Remember she doesn't want today to be a big deal," suggested Wolf.

Thorne nodded in approval. "Any ideas? Anyone?"

When none of them responded, Scarlet spoke up. "We can ask Winter."

"Good idea." Kai took out his portscreen. "She should be out of her meetings by now."

He sent the message.

 **Kai: Hello Winter. We're trying to think of a heartfelt gift to give to Cinder. Have any ideas?**

It took only five minutes for her to respond.

 **Winter: How about a hand-me-down? We have a lot in the palace here if you want to use one of those.**

"A hand me down, eh?" Said Thorne, who ripped his portscreen out of Kai's hands.

"Give that back!" Kai yelled, jumping up and taking his screen back.

"Boys, boys, watch it," said Scarlet.

"Yes, please," said Cress, who stood behind Scarlet. "Have some dignity."

"Fine," chorused both of them.

"Winter suggested a hand-me-down. It's the best idea we have. Anyone object to it?" Kai announced.

No objections were made, only heads nodding in approval.

"We'll then," he said with a mischevious grin. "I have the perfect idea."

And this idea was much better than the last.

 **~)0(~**

The small closet was dusty, making Kai sneeze more than once. His idea would hopefully make her elated after going to the depressing event. He smiled. Even though she missed the party, this would be better.

As long as she said yes.

He found the velvet box in a plastic tub marked "DO NOT THROW AWAY."

He walked out, showing the small box in his pocket so his friends didn't see it. "Got it."

Cinder came back not too long after that. He greeted her. "Hey. How was the funeral?"

She pursed her lips. "About that... sorry I had to leave on such short notice. Adri was a too big part of my life to not go." She looked at her feet.

"It's okay. I understand." He said, taking her hand. "Come on, I have a surprise."

"Kai! I told you not to make a big deal out of it!"

"I promise it's not what you think. Come on! Please?" He drew out the please.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine."

He forcefully pulled her to the large room where their friends were.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Cinder stood, not moving.

Then she let out the biggest grin he'd seen in a long time.

"Oh my stars you're all _here_!" She practically screamed and ran to all of them, exchanging hugs and words of greeting.

When she went to talk to Cress, he got on one knee right behind her and pulled out the velvet box. It was his mother's engagement ring. Cress stoped squealing with Cinder and her lips formed an o.

They all looked at him, and he was sure his ears turned a dark shade of red.

Cinder turned. "Oh my stars..."

He sighed. "Cinder, I knew I loved you from the day I met you."

Her hands flew to her mouth.

"There's not much more to say. Linh Cinder, will you marry me?"

Through the corner of his eye he could see Cress wipe tears away.

She didn't say anything. He saw a mixture of emotions on her face.

She took a step toward him.

"Yes, Kai. Stars, a million times yes!"

He got up and embraced her.

"This is the best birthday ever," she whispered into his ear.

 **NOTE: Bet you weren't expecting that! And you all thought Cinder would be surprised because of the _party_...**

 ***Evil grin***

 **If you don't know what gangrene is, it's rot. In your body.**

 **Next up, more Kaider! Then I think I'm going to do another Jacinter. Stay tuned!**

 **~Cx3**


	10. Chapter 10

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[10/100]**

 **NOTE: I promised an anniversary chapter, didn't I? Except I know a lot of you wanted Kaider, but EmberLafonte gave me an amazing idea for more than one pairing. Thank her for the variety!**

 **FIFTY FREAKING REVIEWS?! WHAT INSANITY IS THIS GAHHH!**

 **Review! I appreciate it so much! :D**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

 **Kaider  
Celebrating: I met you on this day three years ago.**

"Put the opto-sensor wire into the battery. Battery connects to the alternator..." Cinder murmered to herself.

Kai stared at the androids internal wires, confusing him so much he didn't know how she was able to handle it. They were in the Palace's mechanic station. Cinder had taken it over, and now she was always fixing something.

"...Won't reach. Kai? Can you grab the pliers from the table?" Her head snapped up, and so did his.

"Sure, I guess." He walked to the table and grabbed a pointy tool of what he _thought_ were her pliers.

Sighing when he handed it to her, Cinder stood up. "This is a driver, Kai. It's meant to be used for screws." She picked up another tool on the table and held it up. " _These_ are pliers."

He felt stupid, to put it simply. He was _spoiled_ all his life, and his best subject would be politicts. It _is_ what he had been taught all his life, after all.

"You're lucky that you have a talent besides giving speeches."

"That's what you were taught most of your life, though. And I'm no good with speeches, for your information. I've been doing this for all my life. At least, the life that I can remember." She went silent.

He took another step toward her. "Hey. It's okay. It wasn't your fault, remember?"

"Yeah."

She obviously still blamed herself for the attacks on Earth.

"You remember when I met you?" She asked, probably trying to lighten the mood.

How could he forget. "'Course I do."

"My foot was missing that day."

His jaw dropped. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

He burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh my stars... No wonder!"

She frowned. "What?"

"You were so clumsy!" He kept laughing like a three-year-old.

She let out a smile, but went back to her work on the android, still talking to herself on jibberish that Kai couldn't understand.

"What the _heck_ are you saying?" He asked.

"Nothing."

"You were obviously saying something."

"Forget it. I'll stop talking."

"Okay."

After a few more minutes, something clicked in Kai's mind. "Cinder! What was the day we met?"

"Umm..." She told him what she thought was the date.

"Wait, Cinder, that's today!"

She put down the pliers. "Oh my stars, yes! From, like, three years ago."

"How could we forget our three year anniversary! We have to do something."

"Hm, what could we possibly do to celebrate three years of knowing each other...?" Her grin turned cocky.

"For starters, you could let the palace mechanic have his workshop back."

"Nonsense," Cinder said, pulling him out the door.

They ducked into a conveniently empty hallway.

He took her hand in his. "Yeah, what could we possibly do?"

Just as he was about to kiss her, she beat him to it, smashing her lips against his.

 **Cresswell  
Celebrating: Dating for a year!**

"Cress!" Thorne shouted to her. He almost felt bad for waking her up; she looked so peaceful.

He would've knocked, but he knew she wouldn't get up and where the house key was. After the war, they moved back to the American Republic. Now their apartments were right next to each others'.

She groaned.

"Come on, Damsel. You know what today is?"

She propped her head up on a pillow. "It's too early..." She mumbled before dozing off.

Sure, it was midnight. But you only get _one_ one year anniversary, and as this was (shockingly) his first, he planned to make the most out of it.

 _Okay, time for plan B,_ he thought. He yanked her blanket off of her, and she let out another groan.

"Co-old."

"Come on Darling it's time to get up!"

She finally sat up. "Mmm?"

Yes! A reaction!

He helped her up, pulling her out of her room while still in pajamas and to the couch in the living room.

She sat down next to him. "What are you doing...?"

Her head slumped down into his shoulder. Maybe it _was_ a little early.

He adjusted her position so she was laying on the couch, her head in his lap.

"Maybe we should do this in a few hours," Thorne whispered.

Cress muttered something he was barely able to hear, but he swore it was "I love you, Captain."

After hours of not moving and watching girly net dramas, Thorne had to pee. He gently shook Cress, who was still sleeping in his lap. "Cre-ess? Hello?"

Her eyes flew open and she bolted up. "Captain!"

"Yes?"

"Why are you here?"

"It's our one year anniversary, silly," he replied with a small laugh. "I have to go to the bathroom, though."

He got up and saw Cress walk to her bedroom to get dressed.

They were in the park an hour later, watching the sunrise from a bench. It was all Cress's idea.

Cress turned to him. "Why did you try to wake me up at midnight? I fell asleep at 11!"

He let out a breath he'd been holding. "Can you keep a secret?"

She scooted closer and winked at him. "Of course I can."

"This is my first one year anniversary."

At first the look on her face was disbelief, then it changed as she nodded to herself and started laughing.

"Stars! Really? That actually makes sense!" Cress said, still laughing.

"Yeah, yeah. Could you try to keep it down over there?" Thorne said. "I'm trying- AGH!"

The rodent ran over his hand no problem and onto the big oak tree behind the bench. It was gray and Its tail was bushy.

"Dang squirrel ran right over my hand!" Thorne sucked in a breath and shook his hand. There was some blood on it. "Great! Now I probably have rabies!"

Cress looked at the squirrel and squeaked, "Awe! It's so cute! Poor thing!"

"Poor _squirrel?!_ _Cress, it's wild and my hand is bleeding!"_

She gently took his hand and examined it.

"I know you're squeamish around blood, but this is nothing antiseptic and a bandage wouldn't fix. And you can only get rabies if the squirrel _bit_ you. From what I see, it only scratched you."

"May I remind you it's _wild?"_

"But it was cute!"

"Ugh," Thorne said, trying not to look at the blood.

His hand was in a full bandage. It swelled up from when it happened, but he had some liquid ice to reduce it.

Now they were in her apartment again. He didn't have a first aid kit in his.

"Well, now that that's over, any other extravagant things you planned for today?" Cress asked, pecking his cheek.

He felt blood run to his cheeks. Should he tell her?

He had the ring, he might as well.

He grinned cockily. "I _was_ planning to propose, but I might have to postpone that because of my injured hand."

She gaped at him, saying nothing.

He lifted one eyebrow. "What? I have the ring and everything."

"Seriously?"

"I'm normally not serious, but yeah, seriously."

There was a moment of awkward silence. "So... should I ask now, or...?" Thorne asked, almost feeling uncomfortable.

"Don't you already know my answer to it?" She asked.

"No, actually."

She smiled. "Fine. Yes, Captain. How could I say no?"

 **Wolflet  
Celebrating: Married for a year.**

"Do you realize we've been married for a year?" Scarlet said after swallowing a bit of her breakfast.

"I do now," Wolf responded.

"Do they have wedding anniversaries on Luna?" She asked.

Wolf frowned. "Not really. The only incentive that is similar to that is a three-day mourning period after someone dies."

"Sounds boring. I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that your Lunar, you know?"

Wolf looked irritated. He got up and put his plate in the sink, not any food left on the dish.

Scarlet followed his example, dumping her remaining food in the trash and catching up to him. "Hey." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Sorry. I know that's a sensitive topic."

"It's fine."

It was obviously _not_ fine. Scarlet could tell by his tone and clenched teeth.

Trying to make hard feelings forgotten, she spoke again. "So what do you want to do today. On Earth it's a custom to celebrate on a day like today, if you didn't know."

"Really?"

"Yep."

He looked up, thinking. "We should do something with tomatoes. Remember that tavern where we met and you introduced me to vegetables?"

She nodded. "That's a good idea. How about we do gardening? The tomatoes are almost ready for harvesting."

"Sure."

Compared to the fields, the garden was tiny, even with several rows of the vegetables they didn't sell. It was one of Scarlet's favorite places, despite the size. It was private, and she used to spend several days gardening with her grand-mere.

They spent nearly the whole day outside, only coming in for meals. It was too nice a day to be cooped up in the house the whole morning and afternoon.

They probably got more chores done than Scarlet ever had done in one day, making games out of each one. Wolf won most of them, but she was able to beat him at times.

Now they sat on the rocking bench, staring at the cloudy sky. There would most likely be a big storm in a few hours.

"Did you have a good day?" Wolf asked abruptly.

She nodded. "Did you?"

"Mm-hm."

Silence fell on them again.

"I love you, Wolf."

Scarlet was sure her words surprised him just as much as they surprised her. They didn't say it often; they didn't need to.

She was so shocked by her own words, she hadn't even expected him to respond.

"I love you too, Scarlet."

The downpour began.

 **A/N: Yeah... there was going to be Jacinter, except this chapter is quite long and I got lazy. I think I said something about there being Jacinter in the next chapter, anyway. Then I think I'm going to start writing really random stuff that may/may not have pairings.**

 **What?! I can't have this whole story a big wanna-throw-up because of all the romance thing. I don't throw up over romance. I throw up because of a weak stomach, but hey, some people don't like romance.**

 **lots of love,**

 **~Cx3**

 **PS: I know squirrels run away from people! Obviously! But please deal with it for the sake of the story.**


	11. Chapter 11

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[11/100]**

 **A gigantic thank-you to everyone who reviewed and dealt with my not that great writing.**

 **If you can't tell, this is from the POV of Everet and Levana. Then Winter at the end. I hope this wasn't too bad. It feels different than my other chapters.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

 **This chapter is based off of:**

 _"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit. And that's what everyone wants. But a true_ soulmate _is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back. The person who brings to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soulmate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet. Because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soulmate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave.  
-Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert_

 **~)0(~**

 _It's only for practice,_ she had said. Didn't she 'practice' enough? He hadn't even seen her real face, and now they were _in love._

At least _she_ was.

His head was unclouded when they were seperate, but together, he had no control. His mind was being tampered with. It was times like that where he lost all of his authoriy over himself, mentally and phisically.

Even then, in the back of his mind, he could still sense twinges of doubt. That what he was doing was wrong.

They helped him fight her.

 **~)0(~**

Cheating. To him it was _cheating._ So maybe she glamoured him occasionaly, but he was still in love with her anyway.

Right?

She began to notice how he struggled against her. It only made her stengthen her power over him so he would stop.

But he wouldn't.

And he would tell her every day that what she was doing was _wrong._ That she was crazy and desperate for love. Desperate for some sort of attention.

Maybe, _just maybe,_ he was correct.

 **~)0(~**

He didn't let his little Winter follow her step-mother's example, telling her the harsh reality of his situation.

Winter could take it; she was the strongest person he knew.

After a while, he noticed that his spouse had started loosening her glamour's hold on him.

And after all these years of marriage, he finally had hope again. Just an ember, but it was there.

 **~)0(~**

It wasn't all at once. Slowly and steadily, his bitter words reached her.

Every time they did, it felt like she swallowed a moon rock.

She envied the way he looked at his daughter. It was one full of love and compassion, unlike the hard stare he gave her every day when they were together.

Winter did not love her. The little girl gave her the same stare that her father did.

 **~)0(~**

The day came when he questioned what she really looked like.

He almost thought that after that she was... _preparing..._ herself to do it. A little bit more each agonizing day.

At last the had broken down her thick wall. She showed him her true appearance, but it was too late to start over. The whole relationship was based on a lie.

 **~)0(~**

Winter woke up late one night when she heard the loud noises, but figured it was something unimportant. She fell back asleep as quickly as she woke up.

Morning came. Her father didn't come in to wake her, as he usually did. When she asked her step-mother where he was, she saw her eyes fill with tears, though they did not turn red or puffy, as they were supposed to.

"He's gone."


	12. Chapter 12

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[12/100]**

 **Enjoy! (please)**

 **~)0(~**

"So you've seriously never had candy before? That stinks man," said an ever-so bothersome Thorne.

"It's not that I've _never_ had it. I only had it when I was twelve so I really don't remember what it tastes like," Cinder said, feeling embarrassed. It wasn't like she had eaten candy throughout her life, unlike Thorne, who probably had it much more than she had. Sugar and candy was a luxury in the third era, and Adri had made her life anything but luxurious.

"We seriously need to change that when we get back to Earth. No one should live their life without having sugar," Thorne said just as Wolf walked into the cargo bay with them. Knowing Wolf, he had probably overheard their whole conversation.

"Speaking of getting back to Earth, do you know when we'll be getting back?" He asked.

"As soon as possible," Cinder answered.

Scarlet walked in behind Wolf, smiling and giving a half wave.

"What's up?" Her red curls were finally returning back to their normal hue, though her ribs were still visible through her shirt. The group should be returning to Earth as soon as possible so Scarlet could get healthier. The food selection on the Rampion provided little nutrients.

"Cinder hasn't had candy before," Thorne said in a teasing tone.

Cinder looked at the ceiling for patience, her teeth clenched. "That is not true and you know that."

Scarlet laughed for a moment. Even Wolf grinned.

"You know, even _I've_ had candy. At least I can remember the flavor! And I lived on Luna for a good part of my life," Wolf said.

"Come on! No fair!" Cinder threw her arms in the air. "I bet I could say something that all you guys had barely had before, and you wouldn't be making fun of each other."

"Yeah, but this is _candy_ we're talking about," piped up Scarlet. "Not some strange Eastern Commonwealth food that none of us knew existed."

"Ugh!" Cinder lept up and left the cargo bay, stomping her feet the whole way.

Thorne let out a laugh.

"Drama-princess," Scarlet said.

"You got that right," Thorne said with a wink.


	13. Chapter 13

**100 Oneshots Challenge**

 **[13/100]**

 **My late excuse? I have a cold, I'm swamped by school, and I have writers block. Sorry.  
**

 **I hope this makes up for it! Kaider chapter! [because Angel Princess 31 loves them! :)]**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

Cinder felt a twinge of something in her throat. It was uncomfortable, but she didn't make a fuss out of it.

She was currently in another meeting with world officials discussing her giving the throne to Winter. Her cousin would be a much better ruler than she could ever be, and was used to life on Luna. That's what she thought, at least. The others were hesitant to just automatically _give_ the throne to Winter, as she was raised by Levana, and few knew much about the princess.

As for what _she_ would do after this problem was solved? She would be staying on Earth, but would be a _representative_ for Luna.

It wasn't a sure decision, but she'd probably stay with Kai in the EC, at least for now. Their relationship had basically became "official" after the events on Luna.

After much discussion between all, the final questiion came:

"Selene?" Asked a South American representative with a heavy accent, "are you positive about your decision? You cannot go back after this."

"I am sure," she replied confidently. "I have no experience in the world of politics, unlike Winter."

Cinder had noticed that her confidence had been boosted after the war. Instead of murmuring and staring at her feet, she could speak clearly and hold eye contact.

Her throat began to itch again. _Oh great,_ she thought, _I'm probably getting sick._

This wasn't the first time she'd been sick. Her immune system was just usually strong enough to keep her healthy 99% of the time.

Today must've been the exception.

 **~)0(~**

Other side effects of her cold came a few hours later that evening.

The headache was the least of it. Her nose started to get stuffed up, and the throb in her throat worsened. Even her programming told her that it detected a virus in her body.

She skipped dinner and decided to lay down in her temporary room in the palace. It was an unusual action, but she felt so _tired._

Her mind wandered until she partially fell asleep, dreaming but still awake in a way. A startling knock woke her up.

"Come in," she said lazily, sitting up and trying to smooth her hair down. It was still light outside even though it was getting late.

A familiar face walked in, his copper-brown eyes filled with a light she had only just began to notice.

"Hey," Kai said. He walked to a chair near her bed and sat down. "I noticed you weren't at dinner and wanted to see if you were okay."

Cinder blinked slowly, hardly believing that he was in her room. "Yeah. I don't feel good, so I took a nap."

He got up from the chair and sat on the edge of her bed, taking her hand in his. Her heart fluttered at the sensation.

"I'm sorry. It's no fun to be sick."

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. Thanks."

She quickly reached next to her to get a tissue and blew her nose.

"Sorry."

His look filled with sympathy. "Don't worry about it. You should go back to sleep."

She nodded and leaned back down, closing her eyes and keeping them shut.

Kai didn't get up to leave, and she noticed that he still gripped her hand. Curling into a fetal position, she made a mental note to ask him about that in the morning.

He pulled his hand away and shifted his weight. Then, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. It was an unexpected move of affection from him.

Cinder felt a difference in the mattress when he stood up. Finally cracking open one eye, she watched him leave. The red in his ears was painfully obvious even from behind.

The sight made her smile.

 **NOTE: Okay, okay. I know it's not the _best_ chapter but I really wanted to post this. I'd like to do a continuation! OR maybe Kai gets sick instead. My nose is so stuffed up right now so that's the reason behind this chapter. :)**

 **With Lots Of Love,**

 **~Cx3**


	14. Chapter 14

**[14/100]**

 **Angel Princess 31 sent me this ADORABLE quote that she wanted me to do a Kaider chapter based on. So, here it is!  
**

 **~)0(~**

 _ **"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."**_

 _ **-Winnie the Pooh**_

 _ ***A note this chapter probably has little to do with the quote, but it's still a cute one to share anyway* :)**_

Kai watched Thorne and Cress wander off in the direction of the garden. They were always together these days. Letting out a breath and getting up from his chair, he went to his office where he would be able to collect his thoughts.

His goal for the day was to muster up the courage to ask Cinder to stay in the Commonwealth because being honest with himself, he didn't want her to go. They were "in a serious relationship" as Iko had put it.

After taking care of business with Torin, Kai took a break to go find her.

He saw Iko walking in one of the shorter palace corridors he was in.

"Hey Iko, do you know where Cinder is?" He asked the escort droid, who now had a new body. It was nearly identical to her last one except it was not ripped apart in the neck area.

"Oh, yeah! Sure! She's in her room. I was just talking to her, actually."

"Thanks Iko. You're the best escort I know."

Iko smiled at his compliment, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Why, thank you."

Sure enough, Cinder _was_ in her room, looking enthusiastically at a portscreen. Kai wondered why she wasn't using the netscreen in her head.

He decided to get right down to business, barely bothering to say hello.

"So... do you want to stay here in the palace?" Kai asked Cinder, who looked up from her port incredulously.

The whole gang-save Jacin and Winter- were staying in the palace until they were ready to leave. Kai knew that Scarlet and Wolf would be heading back to France as soon as they could.

Thorne and Cress was a different story. They didn't really announce it to them yet, but Kai knew they were together. After three nights of catching them sneaking around, and seeing them head to the garden today, it was painfully obvious that they were both smitten with each other.

He wasn't sure about Cinder, though, and his offer to her was completely selfish in a way.

You could say that he was enamored. Just a little bit.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Cinder replied. "It's not that I don't _want_ to, but I just want to be where I'm needed that's all."

Kai made sure his face didn't fall or to show to many strong emotions.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I assumed- since we're together- and-" He tried to stop stuttering but he was interrupted by Cinder kissing his cheek.

She smiled at his perplexed expression. So much for his 'showing limited emotions' goal. "It's fine."

Her smile turned mischievous yet still innocent, and his legs almost gave out from under him. Oh, the effect she had on him.

His lips instantly brushed hers, and hers, his.

She pulled away quickly. He was sure that she would be blushing right now if she could.

He decided right then that this _tiny_ moment, right then in his life, would be one of his favorites. Sometimes, the smallest things were the most memorable.

 **NOTE: I think that I'm going to start writing shorter chapters like these. I really hope it wasn't too horrible! Be honest with me. I know I still have quite a long way to go.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

**[15/100]**

 ***Speaks to myself* Get the creative juices flowing (What?! Just go with it) Break out of that writers block. See? It no longer exists. I did it! I over came the block! Yaaaaaaayyyyy!**

 **Well, there's always side effects. Okay, enough dawdling. The more I write, the more it goes away. SO LETS WRITE!**

 **(I'm sorry that makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever)**

 **~)0(~**

"Come on _Winter!_ "

Young Jacin Clay clung to his friend's arm. His eyes were wide and his voice was high pitched.

Big brown eyes looked back at him. "Let me get Se-lene." Her voice changed pitches at the end of the sentence to a matter-of-fact tone.

"Fine."

His bottom lip stuck out and his brow furrowed. He was slightly mad that he had to wait for her cousin. She only had just started being able to run around but was still slow.

Winter came out of the nursery with her tiny cousin in tow. Even though Winter was a few inches shorter than Jacin, Selene was even smaller than Winter. At one point Jacin had asked his dad how tall he was. He had only laughed and said, "3 feet and counting."

He really had no idea how tall "3 feet and counting" was. Now to every new person he met he would say "3 feet and counting" and every time they would laugh. _Strange._

"Jacin! Selene can be the monster! Come on!" Winter squeaked and ran, Selene barely able to keep up and stumbling more than once. They raced to her bedroom, where they almost always played their games.

"Wait for me!" He dashed after her, arms pumping by his sides.

Selene had ended up falling and bursting into tears. Jacin had tried his best to keep her calm and to not attract any attention, but she only responded when Winter held her and cooed. After that, they made a new game of who could carry her the longest while running through the long halls.

After much sprinting and racing, they reached their favorite playing spot.

"Okay. I'll be the princess and you can be the knight. Selene can be the scary monster!"

"Fine! But only if my sword shoots fire!" In their games, they have any power they wanted, and often made their characters have special abilities.

"Then I have the power to command water! We can be op-er-sotes." **[litte kid lexicon for opposites]**

Jacin thought that a word in that sentence sounded strange, but didn't pay too much attention to it.

Pretty much the whole time they discussed their characters; what they would look like and other special abilities instead of playing their usual role-playing game. This happened a lot. 9 out of 10 times, in fact.

They were so distracted they didn't notice Selene, after about 20 minutes of sucking on her hand, crawl quietly out of the room.

Winter's gaze moved around the room. Her normally happy expression turned concerned. "Where's Selene?" She asked Jacin.

Jacin looked around as well, his gaze flickering to the big bed. "Maybe she's under the bed," he suggested.

As it turns out, she was not under the bed.

"JACIN! Do you know what this means?" Winter asked him, bouncing on her feet.

He shook his head.

"This means that our next game is a hunt for Selene! I'll be the der-tec-toove who can see where people have been!"

"And I'll be the other one," he said, not being able to say _detective_ as Winter had, "who can see the future."

And the cycle began once again. Just as the little baby Selene walked outside onto one of the palace balconies.

 _ **To be contined...**_

 ** _Possibly._**

 **Okay, here's some Winter/Jacin little kid stuff. My friends and I when we were little used to do the same thing :) I know you want Wolflet. Don't worry, I'm getting to it.**

 **Hope you liked it! :)**

 ***Heart symbol***


	16. Chapter 16

**[16/100]**

 **~)0(~**

 _4/23  
_

 _It's been while since I've been living in the EC. Peony told me she was keeping a record of her life on her portscreen. It sounded silly, but she convinced me to do it anyway. As long as Step-mother has no access to the my built-in netscreen, this will remain private._

 _I'm not sure I really like Adri. She's not very nice, and gives me a look a lot. I don't like the look._

 _She's been giving me more things to do now that she knows I can fix things. At least, I think I'm pretty good at fixing things. I'm getting along with Iko pretty well after all. Peony was right when she told me Iko was unique. I haven't really met any other androids but I have been doing a little research on them. We relate pretty well.  
_

 _I heard Step-mother say something about moving to the city. Apparently money is an issue. Pearl and I have been packing heavy boxes and filling it with our belongings. We don't speak at times like these. I get the feeling she doesn't like me, though I really don't know why.  
_

 _Pearl has seemed to be following her mother's example. By that, I mean she gives me the same look of disgust. Aren't I human too?_

 _I've gotten better at walking on my metal leg. My hand was never really a problem, though I fear it will snap under the weight of all the boxes I've been carrying around the house for Adri and Pearl.  
_

 _There's this dream that keeps coming back nearly every night in these days. I keep waking up piping hot._

 _I don't know what I'm going to do about it. Adri and Pearl probably don't care, so I haven't told them. Peony is younger than me, so I don't want her to get concerned._

 _I'll try to keep writing, but life hasn't been the easiest._

 _Until next time,_

 _Cinder_


	17. Chapter 17

**[17/100]**

 **Okay, okay. I'm back! It's been over a week hasn't it? Sorry.**

 ***THIS CHAPTER IS A CONTINUATION OF CHAPTER 15. GO READ THAT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.***

Selene saw an open door and instinctively made her way toward it, liking the pretty flower pattern on the stained glass and the shiny gold colored handle.

Using the handle as support, she pulled herself to a standing position. Her legs shook due to her still weak muscles, but she still willed them to move to a new location out the door, tilting her head sideways at the sight she'd never seen before. She put her head in a gap on the banister, looking down.

Below her, Selene stared at the blue water that seemed to go on for _miles._ Big buildings surrounded the lake, their reflections were visible in the water.

Small pebbles from the chipped stone balcony dug into her small palms. She let out a groan and put her hand in her mouth, wanting something else to suck on. She heard shouts in the distance, calling her name. Her attention drifted to the high-pitched voices, curiosity getting the best of her. They belonged to the girl with the dark curly hair who called her _cousin_ and the bleach-blonde boy she was always with. She had trouble remembering their names, but she associated the name _Winter_ with the girl's face and _Jacin_ with the boy who was always with Winter.

She heard the shouts for her name stop. They were replaced with _wooshes_ and other noises Selene heard them make with their mouths when Winter played pretend with her friend.

"Princess!" Came a voice she'd heard before. Arms suddenly came around her chest and were picking her up forcefully. The woman's frightened eyes met hers. "I've been looking everywhere for you! How on _Luna_ did you get out of the nursery?! Channary's going to _kill_ me if she finds out! Literally!"

Selene didn't know what she said; she could barely speak. A few words rang a bell in the back of her mind. _Luna. Nursery. Channary._

"Selene! I have found you! Walah!" Piped up the girl with the dark eyes. "It was my mind powers, Jacin, not your fire sword! Ha!"

Jacin argued back to her. "My sword is _way_ awesomer than your mind powers!"

The woman who was holding her walked quickly in front of them. "Behave, children. You're lucky that you don't have to be in the nursery today."

They stopped arguing and hung their heads in shame, the blonde one muttering "sorry," under his breath. Selene raised her head so she could watch them over the nanny's shoulder. She saw them walk to the corner and begin running again when the nanny turned her head. Her arms and legs beat helplessly, yearning to run around with them.

A sob left her mouth and she felt her cheeks dampen. The headache that came with the tears just made her sob more. Why couldn't this woman just let her go? She didn't want her back to be patted, she wanted something familiar. She clenched her jaw and thrashed her limbs again, more screams of protest escaping her throat.

Something soft and chewy was forcefully pushed into her mouth. Her hands clasped around hard plastic and liquid came out of the bottle.

"There," said the nanny.

Selene cleared out her eyes, seeing the soft pastel wall colors of the nursery. The gentle blue and pink stared right back at her.

The next day wasn't as exciting as the last. Winter was there, at least, and showered her with attention.

Not too long after eating a sweet snack, a familiar lady came in, her lips as red and skin as bronze as ever. Selene stuck her tongue out in disgust. As lovely as the woman looked, she was not friendly towards her at all.

She took Winter away, which made her dislike her even more. Something about an _appointment._

She didn't remember anything about what happened after that. Except that everything was _burning!_ She screamed but couldn't move. The pain from the heat was too much! The room was pitch-black, as dark as an unlit night. Nauseating gases filled her lungs, causing her to cough and gag.

Everything went black.

 **NOTE: I realize this chapter is probably _very_ inaccurate. It's been a while since I read _Fairest._ I apologize now if you see an error that has do with the events of that story. I hope you liked this chapter anyway. I tried my best to remember that I was writing through a little kid's POV, but I might've forgot at a few points. I apologize for that also.  
**

 **Thank you _so_ much for reading. I really do appreciate it.**

 ***Heart***


	18. Chapter 18

**[18/100]**

 **Blind Date Prompt  
**

 **Modern AU (No cyborgs, Lunars, ect.)  
**

 **Given to me by an anon reviewer Cheesecake.**

 **JUST A SILLY CHAPTER NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY :) please ignore anything that makes no sense I just mean this to be a fluffy chapter :)  
**

"So I met this guy-"

Cinder groaned, interrupting her and landed on top of her Winter's couch, almost knocking into Cress who was already sitting on the edge. She gave a yelp and stood up. "Not again! You just met that Jacin guy last week!"

Scarlet stood quietly behind her, a grin playing on her face. "Let her finish."

"Yes- as I was saying, I met this guy and he seemed really nice. So I set _you_ up on a date with him."

Cinder jumped up and felt her whole body grow hot. "You _what!?"_

Scarlet bent over, laughing hysterically. "Oh... My... Stars. The look on your face right now is _priceless!_ I should take a picture." Scarlet whipped out her phone and started to enter a long pass code.

"Wait, no, _I_ want to take the picture!" Practically screamed Iko, who dashed out of the kitchen and reached for her phone as well.

" _Excuse me?_ Did you all know before me?!" Cinder flew her arms madly through the air, nearly knocking over an antique on the coffee table.

"Pretty much. Sorry Cinder we thought you'd be excited," Cress said solemnly and quickly.

"No, we all knew you would lose it. Cress is just trying to make you less angry at her," Scarlet said with a wink. Iko giggled.

Cinder looked at the ceiling, closed her eyes, and sucked in a long breath. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow," replied Winter.

" _Tomorrow?!"_

"Aw Cinder, it's already planned. Calm down," said Cress gently.

Cinder took a few moments to breath for the next few heartbeats. "Fine. Give me more details."

"His name is Kai. And he's Asian. And really tall, and has brown eyes and hair, and is so _dreamy-"_ Iko said in one breath. Cinder was surprised she didn't pass out.

"Okay Iko, that's enough." Scarlet lightly slapped her arm. "This is _Cinder's_ date, not yours."

"I'm not dressing up extra-fancy, no matter what he looks like if that's what you're thinking," Cinder stated.

"I guess we'll see," Winter said while crossing her arms.

The group once again gathered at Winter's house. To them, it was their home away from home ever since they were younger.

Since then they had come up with nicknames for each other. _Isondra_ turned into _Iko_ when nobody could pronounce her name right _. Selene_ turned to _Cinder_ after she had fallen in a pile of dirt when she was younger. _Crescent Moon_ turned to _Cress_ because they all agreed it was less of a mouthful and sounded more modern.

Though Cinder had pledged not to wear anything fancy, she couldn't help but wear one of her best pairs of jeans and shirt.

Scarlet sat with her feet up on the couch, watching some drama-filled TV show and shushing anyone who tried to talk to her. Cress was playing a random game on the computer of which Cinder recognized vaguely by the sandbox design.

Winter was fiddling with Cinder's hair, trying hopelessly to make it interesting.

Someone knocked on the door.

Cinder froze.

"I'll get it!" Pipped up Winter behind her. She gracefully yet quickly walked to the door and yanked it open. "Kai!" She said brightly, "She's ready! Cinder, come over here!" She shouted to Cinder.

When Winter was positive Cinder couldn't hear, she leaned in and whispered, "thank you."

Kai nodded. "My pleasure."

When Cinder first saw him, her first thoughts were _Iko was right._ He _was_ quite handsome.

He gave her a warm smile, which caused Cinder to smile back.

"You must be Cinder? It's nice to meet you. I'm Kai." He held out his hand and she shook it.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Yay! What did I tell you, Cinder. Everything is fine!" Winter said. "Now, you two, out." She practically shoved them out the door and slammed it behind them.

"Okay then," Cinder said awkwardly. "First, I'm sorry Winter dragged you into this mess. She literally told me last night and dragged me into this too. I think I trust her enough to trust you." She blushed. "Well, you know what I mean."

"Yeah, of course." he said while running a hand through his hair. "Winter dragged me into it too, if it makes you feel better."

They shared a small laugh. "She tends to do that. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize."

Cinder glanced over to a fancy silver car in the driveway and saw the shiny logo plastered on the front. "Is that a _Lexus?"_ Cinder asked with disbelief. She couldn't even afford _any_ car yet let alone an expensive one.

"Um, yeah. My dad is a business man so I was able to afford it," he said while pulling open the door for her like a gentleman. She gave him a nod of appreciation and slipped in, putting her seat belt on.

Kai got into the driver's seat and turned the key, looking over his shoulder and backing up. Cinder noted that the car smelled new.

"So your name's Cinder right? That's a rather unique name," he said once they were on the road.

"Oh yeah. My real name is Selene, but I used to get dusty and dirty a lot when I was little so everyone calls me that now. You can call me Selene if you really want to."

He shook his head but his eyes remained planted on the road. "I think I like Cinder better, actually."

She nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, where are we going?"

"Winter gave me a location, actually," he said with a laugh. "To be specific, she said _'take her to that new Italian restaurant."_ Is that okay with you?"

She nodded vigorously, trying to be polite. "Yes, that's okay."

Even though she was already there, she couldn't help but be nervous. _Dang Winter,_ she thought, _why did I agree to this?_ For all she knew, Kai could be in a cult or gang. It was unlikely, but still a possibility.

They did, in fact, go to the planned location. Cinder noticed that Kai was especially polite, doing things most people wouldn't go out of their way to do, such as pulling her chair out for her.

"So you said your father's a businessman, right?" Cinder asked to try to start a conversation.

"Yeah. He's really up on the social scale. I don't know a day where he doesn't wear a tie."

"Really? Are you going to do business after high school?"

"Actually, I was thinking something in the history department. I don't think I really have a choice on that decision. You see, my dad _expects_ me to inherit the company and do business like he did." He sighed. "Anyway, what about you?"

It was a question she had thought about all too often. "Honestly, I was thinking mechanics. I've been working on cars for a few years now, and I'm actually pretty good at it." Most people knew that she was good with cars and asked her all the time to fix them.

"That's great! I hope this doesn't sound sexist, but I've never seen a girl mechanic."

"I hear that a lot," she said. It was true; most people didn't expect girls to be mechanics.

They talked throughout the whole dinner, even afterwards they just laughed and talked. Cinder definitely began to trust him more, and even began to silently thank Winter.

Kai seemed to be having a good time too, despite him not knowing her either.

The car ride back to Winter's was much quicker than the way there. He walked her to her the doorstep, like what would happen on a good date.

"I had a really great time, Cinder. I know it was unexpected, but what's life without adventure?"

"Yeah, me too. To be totally blunt right now. I thought it would be a lot worse."

He smiled. "That's good. I'd like to hang out again sometimes, if you would like."

"I think I would like that." She couldn't help but smile back.

"Until next time, then." He turned and went back to his car. She turned herself and went through the front door. She'd likely stay the night.

The house greeted her with a warm blast of air. "Winter!" She shouted, "I'm home!"

She heard a squeal from the upstairs and hurried footsteps. A door _whooshed_ open.

"Tell me all the details. Now!" Came Winter's voice.

"In a bit. Can I stay the night?"

"Sure. Scarlet is too."

Scarlet's voice came from a room to her right. "In here!"

"How was it! Tell me Cinder!"

"It was pretty nice, actually. I'm surprised."

"Tell me more! Tell me more!"

"Okay, but I blame all awkward moments on you."

"Deal!"

 **Responses to the anon reviewer, sjo**

 **First thank you for reviewing!**

 **~WOLF'S poetry... not mine ;)**

 **~I'm THIRTEEN now! HA!**

 **~Thank you, and yes, It was very nice**

 **~Thanks! Means a lot to hear that**

 **~YAS. YAS I GET IT**


	19. Chapter 19

**[19/100]**

 **Yes, I took quotes from _Cinder_ all over the place. You know why? Because I can.  
**

 **Anyway, all quotes from _Cinder_ in this chapter obviously belong to Marissa Meyer.**

"Netscreen, on," Cress said to the blank screen on the desk. It hummed to life and displayed a blue screen. Letters popped up one by one to spell _welcome._

With Thorne gone for the day at his new job, she had more than enough time to herself, which was rare considering that they were almost always together.

She'd talked to Scarlet the other day about what she would do, as she no longer had to hack or follow any orders. Scarlet had actually suggested some pretty good things, which included a new book she had heavily recommended.

Cress typed in the title of the book in a search bar located at the top of the screen. Several results came up: reviews, spoilers, and the author's net site.

Cress further scrolled through the options until she came across the one she wanted, _download_. It was a few univs to read, but Scarlet said it would be more than worth it.

The book took longer than most books to download. It must've been a long story. She watched the progress bar move slowly but steadily, and sighed. After using the best of the best technology on the satellite, she wasn't used to using _lesser quality_ net and portscreens.

A minute later Cress opened a new tab and began reading...

 _... Her knuckles ached from forcing the screwdriver into the joint as she struggled to loosen the screw one gritting twist after another...  
_

Cress was intrigued by the first few sentences and read on. It reminded her of something.

The chapters passed by quickly. Cress couldn't take her eyes off the screen.

 _It took a minute to shake off the grogginess of sleep and make sense of the scrawling words. She opened her eyes to the windowless bedroom and sat up. All her muscles ached from the midnight trip to the junkyard...  
_

The over sized chair was starting to grow too warm, and the couch sounded _more_ than inviting.

After reading another three paragraphs, she stood up and grabbed her port and a USB, downloading the story onto the smaller device before heading to the couch with a fleece blanket. She continued reading, soaking up all the words like a sponge.

 _She took a slow breath through flared nostrils. Even then- even with all the hatred and anger smeared across her face- she was stunning. "Article 17 states that no party of agreement-"_

Her port vibrated and dinged in her hand, signaling she had gotten a comm. Groaning, she opened it. Of course, it was from Thorne.

 **Thorne: I'm coming home. Should be there in about a half hour :) How was your day?**

While she normally loved comming Thorne and knowing that he'd be home, today was the exception. Couldn't she just read her book in peace? For the star's sake, she couldn't put it down! She was already at page 208!

 **Cress: It was fine but I'm kinda busy I'll see you later**

Okay, back to the story, she thought to herself.

Fifty pages later, Thorne came through the door extra loudly shouting _"I'm home!"_

"Shhhh!" She shushed him. "I'm busy!"

He came in the room and looked at her. "With what? You're just staring at your port."

"I'm reading."

"Um, okay?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Can you at least scoot over? I want to sit down."

"Fine," she grumbled. He sat on the opposite side of the couch and kicked off his boots.

Cress lied back down, this time she put her head on Thorne's lap. He reached down and began playing with her golden locks.

Even when her attention almost completely on her port, her heart still beat twice as fast. "You're going to give me a heart attack one day by doing that, Captain."

"Mm, but one day isn't now, Crescent."

Well that didn't help.

"I want to finish my book, Thorne."

"Ugh, fine," he said, "I'm going to take a nap."

She sat up and gave him an adorable smile, the one she knew he loved. "Have fun."

She got up too and went back to the office chair, turning back on the netscreen.

Thorne came down an hour later to get some food, and ended up heating up leftovers because he could barely cook. He brought Cress some too, which she was rather thankful for considering she was close to the end.

Cress was positive she'd never been this wrapped up in _any_ story before.

She finished at exactly 23:37, and when she finally looked away from the bright screen she'd been staring at for far too many hours, a massive migraine bloomed behind her eyes.

Thorne was fast asleep, but she shook him awake.

He groaned, and she shook him harder.

"What?" He mumbled.

"I need to tell you about this book I just read! I swear it was the best book ever! And I _really_ want the second one right now but it doesn't come out for another month and I'm _dying_ because there was a cliffhanger-"

He interrupted her by grabbing her hand and pulling her down to his level.

"Tell me about the story. Maybe it'll make you feel better."

"I'll just spoil it!"

Don't worry, I probably won't have time to read it anyway with my new job."

She took in a breath and smelled his cologne. "If you say so."

She told him nearly every detail, but halfway through she heard a loud snore.

Even though she talked it out, Cress absolutely _could not_ wait another month for the next book.

 **Note: How many commas did I use in this chapter alone? ;)  
** **This chapter is just a little silly thing I wrote. If it's _too_ silly for you I'm sorry (kinda).  
PLEASE leave a review and tell me what you thought! Thank you!  
Also tell me if this has ever happened to you. It's happened to me :)**


	20. Fall

**[20/100]**

 **A/N: I wrote this for the TLC Mini Shipweeks! The theme for day one was "Fall."**

 **The first thing that came to mind was the season, so I decided to write something similar to that! Also, there were no specified ships that were required to write for the shipweeks so please don't hate!  
**

 **Enjoy all Lunartics!**

 **(This is an AU)**

 **~)0(~**

Carswell Thorne climbed the extra-large cedar tree, hoping to reach the top and complete the dare his friends had forced him into. Luckily, he wasn't scared of heights, he was scared of _falling,_ which made him hesitantly climb the tree, surely and steadily.

Soon, the strong branches started to bend under his weight. His heart slightly sped up yet he still ascended. Today, he would _not_ back down.

He looked out and saw the ground from an aerial view. The rest of the park's trees were not as tall as the cedar, so he could clearly see the gorgeous gold and brown decaying leaves.

"Hey guys!" He called down, "you should see this!"

He listened carefully but heard no reply. He looked down and saw that there was no one there, even everybody else who he didn't know had left. Then again, the sun was just going down and the sky gradually got darker by the moment. They abandoned him and he didn't realize it!

 _Aw, crud_ , he thought, and moved his foot down.

As soon as it hit the flimsy branch, he heard a snap and froze in his tracks. The branch below him snapped and fell to the ground. His foot jerked back up to the branch he was on. The next branch was thinner from the last, and at least 10 feet down. There was no way he could leave the branch he was propped up on.

 _Guess I'm not going anywhere._

Instinctively, he reached for his phone and remembered he left it with one of his friends in case it would've fallen and broken from the drop.

Silently cursing, Thorne made himself comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you could get with a rapidly dropping temperature and hanging in an unstable tree, that is.

It was and agonizingly long hour. He simply waited and shivered from the plunging temperatures, giving up hope that his friends would ever come back.

When he thought no one could come until the next day, footsteps rang loud and clear through the silent park

"Hey!" He shouted to the figure.

The footsteps hesitated. "Hello?" Came a rough feminine voice.

"I'm in the cedar!"

A bright light from a phone's greeted him harshly. He squinted his eyes and waved, his ego bruised.

"Who are you? Why are you up there?" She questioned. Thorne couldn't help but blush a little bit.

"My name's Thorne. My friends dared me to climb to the top, except they left me behind. Now I'm stuck." His blush deepened when he realized how silly his situation was.

"Hold on, I might have something to get you down. I'll be back." With that, she scurried off.

She did come back later with her flashlight, except this time she had something draped herself across her shoulder.

"I found a rope. I'll come up a little bit and throw it up. Get ready to catch it."

"Gotcha," he said, thankful she was in the park this late at night.

He was tying a tight knot on the branch he was perched on ten minutes later, and slowly slid down, reaching the ground much easier than climbing down would've been.

"I can't thank you enough. What's your name?" He asked her.

"Selene, but everyone calls me Cinder."

"Carswell Thorne, but everybody calls me Thorne. That's a really cool name, Cinder," Thorne said genuinely, winking. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah. I needed some fresh air after working all day," she said. "I work with cars. It's a family business."

"I've never met a girl mechanic. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand and shook hers.

"I get that a lot. Do you need a ride home? My truck's in the parking lot. That's where I found the rope. I use it to tie heavy cargo down."

"Cinder, if you drove me home I promise I will owe you forever." His tone was extremely light, but his stare was serious.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Where do you live?"

He told her the location. It wasn't too long of a drive, luckily.

The pick-up truck was extremely old and the muffler was wearing out, but it was faster than walking, so he was thankful for that.

"You seem pretty cool. I'd like to be your friend, Cinder," Thorne said blunt as could be.

"Um," she paused, "I don't have too many friends. Sure, I mean my stepsister is always nagging me to get new friends." She grinned a small smile.

He smiled back. "It's a deal."


	21. Espionage

**[21/100]**

 **A/N: TLC Mini shipweeks again! Theme: Espionage!**

 **Hope you enjoy! I wanted to write something slightly different..**

 **~)0(~**

The dark figure moved at a sluggish pace across the screen. Its dark clothing was loose and fell several centimeters lower than normal. It walked with such grace and posture it looked as if it would be a ghost or apparition, but Jacin knew that it was not. This was the soul that has been haunting him for weeks, always moving across the security screen and disappearing.

Jacin knew exactly why she was there; to gather classified information for her boss. Who that was, he didn't know, but they were obviously after the valuable information only him and a few others were allowed to know and guarded with their lives.

The information was the military's next big movement in warfare technology: genetic mutations. Very few actually knew the effects this would have on the world. For how dangerous the project was, it could comepletely _destroy_ it, which was why the figure wouldn't find it in the building. The person had obviously heard rumors from something about the movement. Or some _one._

He had tried to go after her or him several times, but the character always vanished if he even _attempted_ to try and stop him or her. He was the night security, and the only one there besides the goldfish in the corner at the facility at night. The police never believed him because the person always managed to vanish. Just in time.

He was on his own.

So the most he could do at the moment was wait and watch the security screens as she floated from hall to hall, searching and searching for the knowledge she would not, _could not,_ find.

He stood up after another few minutes, his curiosity getting the best of him. Who _was_ this mysterious person? Tonight, of all nights, he or she was lingering longer than usual.

He made a snap decision. He would try to find her one more time. He dashed from the small room and into hallway F5.

Luck was on his side just this once. At the end of the long dark corridor, the figure held a clip and was working on unlocking a door. His hands traveled to the gun attached to his belt as he said, "don't move."

The figure froze and turned toward him. It was a girl, and Jacin couldn't help but notice that she was gorgeous. Her ebony skin was flawless, and her hair framed her face in perfect curls. From what he could see from the distance, her eyes were dark and full of childlike curiosity, and 3 scars brought even more attention to her face.

Before he knew it, she was in front of him. His heart picked up, but only by a beat. He was paralyzed, unable to move. From fear? Did the girl purposely paralyze him? His fears were starting to make him nervous.

"Hello." Her smile was genuine. "And who might you be?"

He glared, but it softened when she reached out and touched his face, her delicate fingers sending volts of electricity down to his toes. Why did this girl have so much of an effect on him?

He slowly put the safety on his gun but did not lower it, finding strength to move a part of his body. This beautiful girl in front of him didn't seem like she wouldn't hurt a fly, but he still knew why she was here.

"I know why you're here. You won't find what your looking for."

Her head tilted. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean," he said. If he could, he would glare again, except something about her immaculateness made him not. "You're lucky I didn't call the police yet," he bluffed, "You could be thrown in prison for breaking and entering, especially here. Who are you working for?"

"Ah. I am lucky, aren't I? You know why I'm even luckier? Because you are really handsome." She giggled. "I'm not as naïve as you think I am, you know."

Before he could react, she pulled something out of her pocket and struck him with it.

He gasped and felt his eyelids grow heavy. _She tranquilized him!_ He felt fingers ghost across his cheek.

"Goodbye Jacin." He heard her say. "I hope we meet again."


	22. Sleepover

**[22/100]**

 **For the TLC Mini Shipweeks Day 3! Theme: Sleepover!**

 **By the way, I'm sorry this is so short. I'm prewriting all of these so, sadly, I don't have too much time to write each one. Thank you for all the positive reviews!  
**

 **Hope you in some way shape or form enjoy!**

 **~)0(~**

"Iko, no!" Cinder groaned. "You're lucky I agreed to stay for the night."

"Come on. It'll be fun."

"Fine."

Iko grabbed her arm and pulled her into the chair in front of her.

"Thank you thank you thank you Cinder!"

Grabbing one of the many hair ties off her wrist, she made a vow. "I promise you won't regret this."

She yanked a brush through her hair, pulling some out with it.

"Ow!" Cinder exclaimed. "Iko!"

"I needed to get the tangles out somehow."

She yanked on Cinder's hair and pulled it into intricate knots, wondering how she did it without five hands. The whole time she kept her eyes strait, admiring an old antique vase in front of her.

The time passed by disturbingly slow as her best friend kept fiddling with her hair. Finally, she squealed and shouted, "I'm done!"

Cinder darted up and instantly traveled to the mirror to look at the damage. Iko trailed behind her, a new bounce in her step.

She froze in front of the mirror. For once in her life, she actually felt _pretty._ That was saying something.

Her long bangs were pushed away from her face, and her hair was styled into a mix of a French and fishtail braid, draped over her left shoulder. It made her face look slightly rounder and more trusting.

"My stars, Iko. You made me not look awful!"

Her expression turned smug. "I told you that you wouldn't regret it. Now all we have to do is introduce you to Kai!"

Cinder blanched. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Her smile switched from a smug grin to a devilish one.

She ripped her phone out of her jeans.

"Iko, what are you doing?!" Cinder dived for the phone after she realized what Iko was going to do.

Because Cinder was unfortunately slightly shorter than her, she couldn't reach the phone when she held it high above her head.

"And... done!"

Cinder nearly screamed. Iko had just sent a picture of her to Kai, her crush? How in the stars did she even get his number?

Iko literally screamed in Cinder's ear just as she was about to 'give it' to Iko. "Oh. My. Stars..."

"What now?"

"He said you were pretty! Look!

Sure enough, he did.

Cinder's eyes widened and she cursed. _Stupid Iko._


	23. Costume

**[23/100]**

 **A/N: Written for TLC Shipweeks day 4: Costume!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **(Oh, and happy late Halloween!)**

 **~)0(~**

"Have you ever heard of Halloween?" Thorne asked Cress.

"I've heard of it. Never done it before, as you could probably guess." Cress replied. "When I was little I wanted to do it."

"You know they still have the old tradition in the republic, right?" Thorne smiled at her. It was practically a habit to smile when she considered his words.

"Really?" Her face lit up with hope. Hope to actually celebrate a famous holiday.

"Yes. And it just so _happens_ that tomorrow is Halloween." He smirked.

Cress literally jumped up and down, resembling a little kid. "I know that we're pretty old for it but can we _please_ go?"

"Course we can. We just need some costumes." He adored seeing her this happy. If he got to see this reaction from her, he'd be more than happy not to care that they were much to old to trick or treat.

Cress ran to the table and grabbed her bag. "I have _just_ the thing. Let's go!"

He dumped the shopping bags onto the table roughly an hour later. Cress turned to him and said, "you go into the other room and do yours. I'll do mine in here."

Thorne nodded and wondered how he got pulled into this situation. Cress had been bursting with excitement, much more than any person he'd met. _Technically,_ he thought, _it's my fault._

First he put a hat on, and the rest of the outfit came after. The whole time, he focused on the soprano voice singing in the other room, loving it just as much as the first time he heard the song.

As soon as he finished making his 'costume' (if you could call it that), Cress had finished hers.

His eyes widened as he took her in. On her body there was a long floor-length ballgown that flattered her petite figure. Black velvet gloves wound their way up her arms and past her elbows before his eyes met the hem. On her face was a dark homemade mask to top off the look.

Overall, she looked _amazing._

"Aces, Cress. That's an awesome costume." He saw her cheeks turn rosy under the masqurade mask.

"Why thank you, Captain. And you are a... captain?" She asked.

"Of course," he smirked. Every year of his childhood, he'd dress up as a military captain, and he was _not_ going to break the tradition now. "Do you like it?"

She shook her head. "No."

His brow furrowed. "What? I just spent like the last hour on this costume? How could you not-"

She pecked his jaw, distracting him.

"No, I don't like it, Captain. I love it."


	24. Mythology

**[24/100]**

 **A/N: For the mini-shipweeks day 5!  
**

 **This idea came to me yesterday!**

 **~)0(~**

Thorne pulled up a chair and sat down next to the petite blond girl he loved to be around. She was sprawled across a sofa, but she sat up and crossed her legs when he came over to her.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," he said back, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

She shook her head. "Not really. What's up?"

"I was comming Kai-"

"Again, Thorne? Every time you guys comm each other you always get into some sort of argument," she said.

He held up his arms in defeat. "That is true."

"What is it this time?" Cress rolled her eyes mockingly.

"He thinks he knows his history better than me. I'd hate to agree with him, so can you tell me about a few things?"

"Uh, sure. What do you want to know?" She asked, expression telling him that it was not what she was expecting to hear.

"The First Era, actually."

"Oh," her eyes widened, "what about it?"

"Just general info."

"Um, okay," she paused, "The first era was a time of empires, polytheism, and little technology," she looked at him for his approval.

He nodded. "Can you tell me more about polytheism? It seems pretty interesting, and Kai mentioned it."

"It was believing in several gods. Many call it civilizations practiced it, but the most commonly known were the Greeks, the Romans, and the Egyptians. There were a few others, but they weren't recorded as well as those."

Thorne became engrossed. _No wonder Kai knows so much about this._ He'd never admit it to anyone, but Kai _did_ know much more about history than he did.

"Each of the gods had a certain domain. For example, Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, controlled the sky. Other ones, such as Tyche, controlled luck and fortune. The Romans called Tyche Fortuna. They would _literally_ worship them day and night."

"Really?" Thorne said. "It's interesting and silly at the same time."

"I know right! I read about this on the satellite."

"Tell me more. I can't _wait_ to brag to Kai about how much I'm learning." He winked.

She laughed. "I know a few more things, if you still want to know."

"Sure." He got up from his chair and next to her on the couch. "I have time."


	25. Beach

**[25/100]**

 **Day 6: Beach! Thank you all so much for reading! I really appreciate it!**

 **Luckily, I actually planned on this one being short, so I won't apologize ;). Tomorrow I will post for the last theme! I will also be doing the 'big' shipweeks at the end of the year!**

 **~)0(~**

Cress sprayed the foul-smelling substance back onto her arms, legs, back, and neck. After swimming in the murky water for the previous two hours, it was time to reapply the sun protection.

One of her best friends, Iko, had dragged her to the beach, though Cress didn't mind the pushiness. She was sprawled on the beach towel she brought with her, and was laying in the sun, trying to make her skin much darker than it already is.

Cress had decided to follow Iko's lead, though she'd most likely get sunburned and regret it later.

She ended up falling asleep, curling up on her own towel and dreaming of water and vivid colors.

She was woken up when something hit her in the stomach. Hard. Cress instantly sat up and looked around, woozy from the sudden shock the object sent into her body. Looking next to her, a volleyball was stationary in the sand. She picked it up.

"I'm sorry!" A sudden voice said form her left. She turned her head to the general direction.

Her own eyes met with bright blue ones. She stood up, and noticed that he was at least a foot taller than her. Most people were.

"It's fine," she told the man, handing him the hard ball. "I probably needed to, um, wake up anyway."

She mentally scolded herself for saying such a weak excuse, but the man was so cute it made her slightly flustered.

"I'm Thorne," he said, extending his hand to hers.

She shook it. It sent a volt of electricity through her hand and wrist. "Cress."

"I'm going to go back to the game," he said, gesturing to the beach sport going on behind him. "I'm sorry again."

"Don't worry about it," she nervously laughed.

"See you later, Cress," he said and jogged back to the area he came from.

The electricity in her veins refused to fade.


	26. Revolution

**[26/100]**

 **For the last day, themed revolution. I hope you liked these! Let me know if you did!**

 **~)0(~**

"Scarlet."

The name feels too foreign. He'd been saying her name for weeks, but now that it was actually to her it felt different.

From the back, Ze'ev could see her spine sticking out through her loose thin shirt. He shuddered, but kept his temper, knowing he needed to at a time like this.

Her thin frame shuddered, and she slowly turned in his direction. Her lifeless eyes filled with emotion when she saw him, but she didn't speak. They spoke solely through eye contact.

Ze'ev's hands went to the bars surrounding her and he slowly pulled them apart. He would've preferred to rip them off in a second, but the lunar metal was thick and heavy.

Scarlet slowly crawled to the new opening, and he pulled her to him and held her in a bridal position.

She put her head against his chest and groaned. "End?" She murmured.

"Yes. Cinder is fighting Levana as we speak. I came as soon as I could, but we had to take out some gaurds first. You're going to be just fine."

He took her quickly through the halls and to the secret tunnel entrance. The tunnel was about a half a mile long, but if he had to he'd run miles for her.

He went to the Lunar doctor that was staying in the tunnel if anyone had got any injuries, and handed her off to him.

"I'll be back, Scarlet. He's going to take care of you, okay?" He wispered into her now flat hair. She nodded.

As much as he didn't want to leave her, it would be cruel to keep him with her at the state she was in. All he needed to know was that she was safe.

 **~)0(~**

He had to take out three guards on the way to the throne room, where the main battle was taking place.

When he sprinted through the doors, the scene was hectic. Jacin was surrounded by a circle of guards, and Thorne was backed into a corner. Z didn't spot Cress or Kai because his attention snapped to Cinder. She was talking to Levana.

 _She was talking to Levana._

Wolf realized what she was doing. She was _distracting_ Levana!

He took the chance of a lifetime, and snuck up in the small space between the throne and the wall.

He took his fist and swung at the distracted queen as hard as he could. Luckily, it was so sudden that she didn't stop him.

The whole room froze.

 **A/N: In all the final battle scenes I've read, no one had Wolf come to the rescue ;) Again, I hope you liked it! There was a Wolflet request.**


	27. Chapter 27

**[27/100]**

 **A/N: I'm not dead! I just read Winter and had to give myself a week to recover. I promised a friend of mine, Angel Princess 31, that I'd do a Kaider shot. I hope this pleases you! (Just some plot-less interaction)  
**

 **P.S. I've been working on my TLC shipweeks entries. Planning ahead :)**

 **~)0(~**

The visual link on the port Cinder held was fuzzy and the audio sounded disheveled. Cinder let out a breath and banged it against the bedpost.

The screen cleared, though it was still slightly obscure. That was Luna's own doing, and there was nothing she could do about that. For now she was happy Kai made time to speak with her. The EC's time zone was several hours later than Luna's. Even Cinder had trouble adjusting when they had first arrived, but the jet lag had passed quickly.

"Hello? Cinder?" Spoke Kai's familiar voice. Against her will, Cinder's stomach did a flip-flop.

"Right here," Cinder said, as confident as she could. Her voice sounded shaky. It'd been a while since they spoke face to face instead of just text-comming.

The face on the port smiled widely.

"What time is it there?" She blurted and returned a sheepish smile. "I forgot to look." If she could blush, she would. That might've been the wrong thing to say.

"01:00," he said, but quickly added, "but it's completely fine. I stay up later than this on most days anyway."

It was only then when she noticed the background. The lights were dimmed and gave his room the slightest orange tinge. He wore a loose cotton t-shirt and his hair was more messy than usual. Bags were beginning to to form under his eyes, but it was hardly noticeable through the vidlink.

"Kai," she said, surprising herself when her tone filled with concern. "I-"

"Stars, Cinder, stop worrying. We haven't talked in forever. I just want to talk to you."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?" She asked. Thankfully, almost all the nervousness she'd previously felt was gone. This was just Kai. The Kai she knew and loved to talk to. _Her_ Kai.

"How's Luna's recovery?"

"It's going great!" She muttered with enthusiasm. "Iko's idea to sell Levana's old dresses is going very well. With the money we were able to build back up several of the outer sectors so the housing isn't so shack-ish," Kai smiled at her made up word, "and we were able to build two more public schools so the Lunar children will be more educated."

"Ah yes. The newsfeeds said something about that. How's the prototype distrubution going?"

Cinder grimaced, and Kai noticed.

"Not well then," he guessed correctly.

"Um," she paused, "yes, it's true that they aren't taking it well. But I can see where they're coming from. I mean, for many Lunars, they grew up and still believe that the ' _gift'_ is something harmless. They saw how much Levana used hers, you know what I'm saying?"

Kai nodded. "Yeah, I can see they're viewpoint on that; it's important to them. Speaking of the prototype here, we can't distribute it fast enough. Millions of people are on the list to receive one. The doctors in all countries are working way too much after the blueprints got off Luna," he let out a chuckle.

"Really? That's really good. You should hire more doctors so not too many are doing so much overtime."

It was then when she heard the smallest rap on the door to her private bedroom, and a robotic voice from a small speaker on the wall said, "Iko is requesting permission to enter Her Majesty Queen Selene's private quarters. Accept?"

She hated that voice. Every single time it called her by her official title. There was no way in the galaxy that every time it needed to call her that. Reprogramming it would be at the top of her list before it drove her insane.

"Oh stars, Kai. Iko wants to come in. She'd start screaming if she saw me talking to you. I gotta go," Cinder said hastily.

"Bye Cinder. We'll talk soon okay?"

"Okay. Promise. Bye, Kai."

She hung up and told the robotic voice, "Entrance allowed."

Iko walked in with poise. "Hey Cinder. What have you been doing?" The android smirked.

Cinder's eyes widened. _She knew._


	28. Chapter 28

**[28/100]**

 **I am aware that I haven't written in a while, and I'm sorry! But I DO have upcoming projects! One involves the TLC shipweeks, and the other one involves TWO other AWESOME people! More info and chapters soon! I PROMISE!**

 **~)0(~**

An android. A filthy, disgusting android.

Of all things he could've been attached to.

Both him and Iko stood outside the Queen's chambers. He was her personal guard, and Iko was there because the Queen was... being emotional.

"Cinder?" Asked Iko gently. Kinney almost rolled his eyes, wondering how an android could care.

But she was a special android.

Through the door, he heard the Queen. "Not now, Iko."

"I'm not leaving whether you like it or not." Stubborn android.

Iko slid down the door so she was sitting on the floor. He stood in silence, not moving. She was much too close to him.

"So," she said suddenly. "How's life?" Her golden eyes stared up at him curiously. Kinney noticed that they were gorgeously patterned. Darker near the middle, lighter on the outside.

"Same as ever," he replied. He didn't want to talk, but something in his mind wouldn't let him not.

"Ooh, mine's been quite interesting! Lunar life is much different than Earthen life."

You got that right.

She took her robotic hand and pulled her long blue braids over her shoulder, and her perfect jawline tilted toward him.

"I'd guess so."

"I mean, for one I'm on the moon. C'mon, you don't get that view every day, though technically I do see it everyday."

He almost smiled.

"Oh my stars!" She shouted unexpectedly. "Oh my stars, oh my stars! You almost smiled!"

Darn, she caught him.

"Just because I don't show my emotions doesn't mean I don't have any."

"Really? I thought you didn't know how to feel anything."

He almost laughed, but instead pursed his lips. She was messing with his brain.

"So, are you just going to sit there, or-?" He asked slowly. Even though she... was what she was... she was close to the queen, and in a way, insulting her could insult Selene.

Could you technically insult a machine?

"Yes, I will have you know, so get comfortable," Iko said with a ton of sass and a very dramatic eye roll. Kinney liked her sass. More than he should.

He stood in silence again, unmoving, but his mind was still racing, thinking about too many things at once. Should he start talking? Should he not? Did he like the escort?

Kinney couldn't come to any conclusions, so he just stood there. Iko seemed to be frozen too, but he didn't move his eyes, afraid he'd stare at her perfect yet fake skin.

Oh stars. Oh stars above.

He liked her. He actually liked her.

"When does your shift end?" Iko asked.

"Why?" Kinney asked, more than a little curious.

"Just wondering, really." She stood. "Maybe I'll see you later. Cinder is having some fancy party this evening."

"Sure, I guess," he uttered, and internally smiled.


	29. Sunny Day

**[29/100]**

 **For the TLC Shipweeks Winter X Jacin: "Sunny Day"**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Jacin, Jacin, Jacin," sing-songed Winter to the brave and emotionless guard. Surprisingly, he looked at her.

Winter could remember the time when he refused to look at her. Could practically still feel the familiar sensation of her embroidering tools in her hands, and the products of what she made, soft and gentle. Still practically could hear the voices of the children who had made her a crown of flowers. She shuddered at the thought. It was a time of war and hardship and she preferred more than anything to not remember it, even if the children had shown her acts of kindness.

"Yes?" He said plainly. "Is there an assassin under your bed again?" His expression was serious, but his eyes said otherwise. Winter had noticed that he'd definitely lightened up since the previous queen had ruled, even so much as to share the occasional kiss with her in the menagerie.

She giggled. "You scared him off ages ago. Actually, I have news," she said, excited to tell him. Selene had requested an audience with her only an hour ago, and she absolutely loved what was requested of her.

Winter would be able to go to Earth as a Lunar ambassador. And Jacin was coming with her.

"And that is?" He moved his hand out in front of himself, urging her to reveal.

"We're going to Earth, Jacin! Aren't you excited?" She watched his face, looking for approval. At first he frowned as the new information was processed through his head, but it changed more to a mixture of surprise and another emotion she couldn't quite pinpoint. Winter always found it difficult to read other people's emotions, especially Jacin's.

"When?" He finally said.

"Two days. If it's too soon I can ask Selene to push it back. I'm sure it'd be okay." Winter offered a smile, which he just barely returned in response.

"That's fine. So why and where are we going? How many guards did Selene request to come?" He asked.

Winter sucked in a quick breath, then exhaled and tucked a wild curl behind her ear. "The EC, where Kai is. As far as I know, only you and I are going. _Cinder_ said it wasn't necessary for too many other guards to come, since she assumes that it's a fairly safe place."

The new name for Selene sounded strange after saying _Selene_ all her life.

Jacin nodded. "Very well then. As the queen wishes."

 **~)0(~**

The takeoff went smoother than usual, yet the landing when they reached Earth was bumpy.

During the ride she let her logical side fly away from her and allowed her imagination to take over completely. At least, that's what Jacin called it when everyone else called her 'mad.' First she saw the words. Words with feathery wings attached to the letters fly through space. Then stars moved to form the figures of brave heroes, and the Earth smiled at her. She smiled back and waved, but the blue planet turned away from her too quickly to see.

They were greeted by a mob of reporters and flashes from cameras. More than one person held voice amplifiers and were speaking into them. Were they really that important?

Kai came to the ship and greeted them. "Hello. I hope the Commonwealth's accommodations are great enough for you." He leaned in and whispered, "I would be less formal but the cameras are watching."

Winter giggled, but Jacin stiffened. The reason he did so was a mystery. This was just Kai. They had met before.

They followed the emperor into the palace.

 **~)0(~**

Winter, after several hours in a meeting, smiled once again. Jacin stood next to her. She could tell he was happy, although he didn't exactly look it.

Her hand gently wrapped around his, and to her delight, he accepted it.

In front of them, a worker led them to the well-known garden entrance. Through the halls as they passed, the palace seemed to buzz with excitement.

Before they went outside, the worker bowed and opened the door.

Outside, the sun shown in the sky, clear as a crystal. Not one cloud was in sight. The bright star lit up the plants and made the colors bright and brilliant.

Jacin led her through the walkways and smiled when she gushed over all the flowers.

"Stars, it's hot out isn't it? You know what the most interesting part is? No people are controlling it. It's the Earth's doing," said a now sweaty Winter. It might as well been a hundred degrees out.

"That's true," Jacin responded.

"I wish it was like this on Luna," she said slyly.

Her expression turned to the pleading puppy dogs eyes everyone said yes to. Everyone.

"I guess we'll have to come back."

"Yes! Jacin! Thank you! You are the best!" She embraced him and smashed her lips to his. Just quickly and put her head on his shoulder.

He placed his right hand on her hip.

"Anything for you, Trouble."

 **A/N: Thank you to The Mysterious Q for editing!**


	30. Classic Hollywood

**[30/100]**

 **Also for the TLC shipweeks. Classic Hollywood! Enjoy!**

* * *

Jacin stoodon the side, waiting anxiously for his cue. The set gleamed in the spotlights- Artemisia- as they called it. A grand white city on the moon. A mixture of old and new architecture. A big castle in the center. The 'futuristc Hollywood.' So did Levana Blackburn, the lead actor in _Galaxy Stars,_ the movie they were filming.

It was about a futuristic interplanetary war, with spaceships, soldiers, and diseases. The Earth against the moon, Mars sided with Luna, etcetera.

Her hair was glossy and her makeup was just thick slop on her face that covered up large scars and acne.

The director sat perched on her chair, watching intently and writing notes.

"Good will always prevail!" Shouted Levana in her fake, sickly sweet voice. Jacin knew _exactly_ what her real voice sounded like. It was rough and squeaky, and it took effort for it to sound nice. Half the time post had to edit the noise.

That was when Winter sprinted onto the shimmery area, dress torn to shreds, hair wild, and even a fake bloodstain on her face. Winter, the one who _should've_ gotten the main lead, not the co-lead. It should've been Levana in the worn out costume during the final battle scene.

Though he had to admit that her acting wasn't horrible, Winter would always be a much better actor than Levana could ever be.

"Guards!" called Sybil, who posed as the cliché 'bad guy'

That was Jacin's cue. He lined up with the other minor guard-actors.

"Camera two on the guards!" the director, Cinder Linh, said into her radio. As Jacin was standing close to her, it was easy to hear what she said.

A tall redhead Jacin vaguely recognized zoomed in on him and his piers. Cinder spoke into her radio again, and the set's doors opened automatically.

"CUT!"

Everyone froze. "That's a wrap, people. Nice job today!"

Levana sighed. "Finally! Aimery, get me water. Now."

"Of course, right away," said Aimery Park, Levana's _assistant._ More like 'pet.'

Winter walked over to him. Ever since they were little they'd always been in plays and acted together, roleplays and all. They were best friends who just liked to pretend. Now here they were, in an actual _movie._

"How did I do? You were watching, right? Oh, I feel like I was... off today, Jacin." Winter said. Her nose flared just slightly. "I don't think Levana's doing her part well. It doesn't seem authentic."

He looked at his feet for only a moment, his head jerking up, just so he'd make the right impression. "I think that you're doing great. You know, on a good day."

She smiled and laughed. "Thank you. Do you wanna be my guard for the rest of the day?"

He had figured out a long time ago that it meant "let's go for a walk."

"Sure. You're the Princess, after all," he said. She started to pull him along when none other than Levana stopped them.

"Where are you going?" She snapped. "You should be rehearsing your lines again, Winter. Your acting is getting dry."

"You're not her boss," Jacin sneered. Levana deserved _anything_ but respect, especially from Winter. For the whole year that they'd been filming, all Levana would do was make fun of Winter and look at herself.

"I might as well be," she crooned, before making her grand exit, entourage and all.

Winter's lip stuck out a bit and her eyes turned a bit glassy, but she still smiled. Just a bit before a tear ran down her cheek and to her self-inflicted scars. He wiped it away, almost blushing, but reminding himself that this was only Winter.

"Don't let them get to you. You're better than all of them."

Wrapping her arms around him, she whispered "thank you."


	31. Trouble

**[31/100]**

 **For the TLC shipweeks, Trouble :)**

 **Hope you like it!**

* * *

Small seven-year-old Winter and her best friend in the world scurried through the grand halls with an obvious swagger.

It was just an ordinary day. Jacin and Winter's dad were both at work, and her stepmother was off doing some weird royal stuff. Both of them were free to do as they pleased.

That was the way she loved it.

Both of them were in a good game of role play. Today they were doing an unusual play, where Winter was the guard and Jacin was in need of protection. Therefore Winter lead them, wielding her fake sword at the (pretend) attacking potted plant. Even Winter, at her age, felt the happy energy coming off of Jacin.

"I will save you, Jacin!" Winter yelled and pretended to shoot at a partially open door with an invisible gun she pulled out of thin air.

He laughed, hard. She laughed too. This was _fun._

Jacin laughed so hard he shook with elation. Seeing him in this state made her happy.

Her face began to hurt from smiling so hard.

He stopped laughing only a few seconds later and regained his composure, brow furrowing. He pulled her into the room in front of them and shushed her, shutting the door almost all the way but leaving it open a crack.

He leaned in, extra close. "She's coming. I heard footsteps. We'll get in trouble if she caught us. You know how she hates seeing us run around the castle."

Winter shuddered, knowing _exactly_ who _she_ was. "Are you sure?" She asked. "What if it's a servant?"

"Trust me, it's her. Follow me."

They ducked into a large closet located in the corner. As it turned out, they were in the guest wing and had scurried into some Lunar aristocrat's room.

Sure enough, Winter was able to very vaguely feel the sickly-sweet, stomach turning energy of Levana. She held her breath and hoped Levana couldn't feel them back.

"Thank you," she whispered to Jacin. "We would've gotten in _huge_ trouble if she caught us."

She watched him nod, though it strained her eyes because there was only a sliver of light in the room. "Let's get out-"

The door opened. Winter pushed her finger to his lips. She was so distracted from the fear of Levana she didn't even focus on any other person's energy. But now, it was as clear as day.

The person who came in wasn't _Levana..._

It was the room's occupant.

* * *

Winter grabbed her overflowing basket of embroidery products and snuck outside her personal quarters. Quietly, fearing Levana would catch her. It was normally okay when Winter went out into Artemisia, but with Selene and her revolution- she almost smiled at the thought- she was enraged as easily as just _seeing_ her. It gave her the chills. All she wanted to do was give a few Artemisians something nice.

Jacin met her in the hall and immediately started walking, giving her little acknowledgement.

She chased after him and called "wait up!"

He slowed, and gave her an opportunity to catch up. It was rather hard to walk in her wedged shoes and puffy silver dress. Even though she fancied more casual clothes, it would be unproper to be seen without something fancy.

"You okay?" she asked, remembering a time when they walked these same halls in games of role play and laughter. The time when she feared Levana would catch her only playing a game with Jacin.

What would she do now that she was older? Her heart rate quickened as she remembered all the trials torturing punishments for doing nothing. That's what she was doing: simply nothing. Yet she'd be punished anyway.

"Fine. Are you, Princess?"

"Not really. But when am I?" She giggled, realizing the truth of her words. She really _was_ rarely okay.

He tilted his walking path so he was in front of her. Like a real guard. Then, he stuck his arm out so she would stop walking.

Without saying a word, he pulled her into a random room they were passing, heading to the vacant back wall. If only her private quarters were closer to the exit. Then they would be in the city by now instead of the random room he pulled her into.

The whole while, the only thing Winter could think was _this feels familiar._

Then he whispered " _Aimery"_ in her ear and she froze, suddenly feeling his energy as Jacin had.

Aimery was just as bad as Levana.

She willed herself to feel nothing, although she couldn't because of the fear and worry pumping through her veins. If Aimery caught them, he'd be able to easily tell Levana, and that was the _last_ thing she needed.

She finally relaxed just as the repetitive footsteps clearly audible from where they were diminished. He didn't notice them. _Thank the stars._

"Thank you," she whispered quietly, and hugged him.


	32. Snowy Day

**[32/100]**

 **TLC sw, snowy** **day!**

* * *

The gray sky seemed to stare at Cress. She stared right back, frowned, and Thorne loved seeing her forehead furrow in concentration when she tried to analyze and comprehend make sense of the situation she was in.

He stood directly behind her, and when a strong wind blew through the porch they were standing on, her grown out hair flew into his already freezing face. It fell halfway down her back and had darkened a shade to match the weather. Despite its normal softness, the sensation stung.

"Aces, Cress," he said, and moved to her side. "Maybe I should cut your hair again."

"No, I like my hair," she said, turning her attention to him while brushing a hand through her hair. After a pause, she shivered and said, "I'm cold."

"Obviously, it's gotta be below freezing to snow," he stated, and pulled her down with him onto the rocking bench on the right side of the porch. It was one of their favorite places to be, especially with the view. There were no city noises and the house itself oversaw a forest which was normally green, though because of the season it was brown and bare. The green expanse of nature was what made the area worthwhile. Thorne had to admit that the drab sight in front of them was no where near as spectacular as it normally was.

Cress snuggled into his side. "Is it almost here?" She asked. "I don't want to miss it if I go in for a coat."

"I'll run in and grab a blanket," he said, "I've seen snow, after all."

It wasn't true at all, but if he had to, he'd move mountains for Cress. She completely and utterly had him wrapped around her little finger. He adored her in every sense of the word.

It would be the first snow she actually got to see. The only forecast for snow was that day, and Cress wanted to see the first snowflake fall. If she missed it, _both_ of them would have to wait until the following month to even _see_ snow.

He grabbed a huge blue blanket out of the small linen closet and quickly went back outside. Cress gratefully thankfully took the blanket from him and wrapped it around her small body. Thorne was cold too, but he'd deal with it just to see the expression on her face when the flurries fell. Plus, Cress would start fusing over him if she found out he was cold at all.

The light outside seemed to shift, and he got up from the bench and looked at the swirling clouds miles above them, which seemed to lower by the moment. It was almost time.

"Cress, come here, it's about to begin!" His hand flailed in her direction. Cress hopped up from her seat and over to him. Dashing down the few stairs and into the dying grass in the yard, her head snapped straight up to the sky.

Thorne watched with wonder as a small spot of white fell onto her nose. It looked like a small feather, except it disappeared once it touched her pale skin. Her eyes widened.

"It's here! It's here it's here it's here!" She squealed when more tiny flakes started to fall.

The snow fell faster by the second, and was even starting to stick. Small spots of white gathered at her feet, which danced excitedly around in the grass. At least she'd remembered to wear shoes.

Thorne shivered and looked at his port for the temperature. After all, the weather was below freezing, and through his light jacket the cold was getting to him, but he'd hold out if he had to. For Cress. She was more than everything to him.

Stars, he was such a sap. He wanted to gag at _himself._ It was Cress's fault. She'd forced him at least once a week to sit down on the couch and watch silly dramas together.

Cress's eyes were bright when she meandered back to the porch and grabbed the blue blanket. Along with him. Her small arm pulled his, and Thorne wondered why he let him drag her around like she did.

"Slow down, little lady," he joked and pulled her to him into an embrace. Despite the cold, her small body warmed his chest. He noted that she smelled like the nature they were surrounded by. Pine, cedar, and freshly cut grass. It surprisingly suited her.

"Thorne, you're freezing," she said and moved the blanket so it was around him too. He let out a _hm_ but didn't complain.

Cress looked up at him and gasped. Bringing her arm up she forced his face toward the sky. " _Look!"_ she squeaked.

The sky was indeed a spectacular sight. Small flakes floated to the ground in what seemed like a perfectly choreographed dance.

"It gets old after a while," he lied and smirked. She playfully smacked him and leaned deeper into his chest.

She shivered, but instead of ruining the moment, it only allowed him to cuddle her more.

"I love you, Captain," she blurted into his chest. His heart rate sped up slightly. It was rare when they said the three small words to each other, and he still wasn't used to saying them with true emotion.

"I love you too."


	33. Song

**[33/100]**

 **TLC Shipweeks! Song. (Important authors note at the bottom)**

His warm arms soothed the roaring emotion in her stomach. Cress associated the sense with familiarity, though the nervousness still lingered and flared by the minute.

"You'll do great," he whispered into her ear. "You'll prove to them that you're the best out there."

She nodded. After countless hours of practice, she was ready. Thorne had been there the whole way. After all, they were best friends. And Cress just _happened_ to have a crush on him.

Cress gave him one more embrace before she had to leave him. If only she could just stay

there, with him. It was her only comfort right then. Her own mind wouldn't calm her down.

This was the most important audition of her life.

"You're going to blow them away. I promise." His fingers drew shapes of comfort into her lower back.

Nodding, she released him and went backstage to her position. Her audition was the tenth out of twenty other people, and only ten out of the twenty contestants would move on to the actual competition.

It didn't help that her audition would be nationally broadcasted.

After a few minutes of anxious waiting, Cress smuggled a look outside the curtain. The roar of thousands of people filled her ears too soon. The curtain, luckily, was able to reduce most of the noise. Not only the noise, but the lights made her feel faint as well.

The auditions passed fast. Too fast. And each one seemed to be better than the last one. Cress's anxiety grew by the second. Would she be as good as them? Better, maybe?

All she could think was _I'm going to mess up. I'm going to fail. I'm not good enough._

The phrases haunted her. Even Thorne's previous reassurances were failing to reassure her.

"Singer ten! Going on in one minute!" called one of the producers.

Summoning any remaining courage, she marched on stage.

The microphone stared at her as she picked it up. Smiling, she spoke:

"My name is Crescent Moon Darnel. Today I will be singing my own original song, Così è la vita."

The judges scribbled notes down. One female judge gave her a deadpan look. While original songs were allowed, they weren't preferred.

She began the song, starting on an exact _e_.

Her breath shook slightly, so she forced herself to support her air better. Reminding herself to do it just like practice.

The lights were blazing and made Cress feel faint. A blush crept up her neck as she sang. Every invisible person in the crowd. She shut her eyes only for a moment, absorbing the music. Hearing the piano like it was apart of her. Every note began to come out just how she wanted it to.

 _Your words and actions_

 _Cause me pain_

 _And stars above,_

 _I can't help but love it._

The song soon began to fly by. The second chorus, bridge, and final chorus came and went.

She finished her song. The fear from before clipped at her insides as the judges only frowned and wrote more notes. _Did they hate it? Did they hate_ me _?_

She ducked backstage before any tears could flow out.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Thorne had sent her a message. _You did amazing!_

The pressure from before caused a few tears to spill out. She wiped them away with the long sleeve of her shirt and typed a response. _I feel like I did horrible._

 _No way. You were the best one._

His compliment made her smile, but barely reassured her. _You really think so?_

 _Of course I do. Just wait. You got first place._

 _Thanks, Thorne. I have to go before I get in trouble. Cya :)_

The next few minutes seemed to take an eternity. Cress had to admit that some of the last few singers missed quite a few of the notes, and one of them was highly tone deaf.

The award ceremony finally began.

"We will now be announcing who will make it to the next round," said the announcer. "Not only our amazing judges, but all of the US voted for these singers. In tenth place-"

He began to slowly reveal the names. Each time Cress bit her tongue harder and harder.

"And now the top three."

She held her breath as the final names listed off.

"And in second place, Crescent Moon Darnel!"

Producers ushered her on stage. She nearly passed out. Even though it wasn't first, it was still amazing compared to what other people got.

"Congrats," the speaker told her.

The crowd screamed. Really screeched. Cress almost covered her ears.

She felt woozy. The lights continued to blind her.

* * *

An hour later, both Cress and Thorne were back near their homes, at the local ice cream shop. While Thorne wolfed down a large cone, Cress picked at her small bowl, blushing.

They'd been best friends since she could even remember. They always were together, and were nearly inseparable.

Cress had also had a crush on him since forever.

"You did amazing, Cress," Thorne said just as he finished his ice cream. "Those judges were stupid not to put you in first place-"

"Don't worry about it. I'm perfectly fine with it," she said. He put an arm around her.

"Okay then. _I_ still think you were the best one." Thorne offered the one sided smile she loved.

"Thanks," she replied. and blushed again.

 **REALLY IMPORTANT A/N!** **Just so everyone knows, I'm gong to try and get at least one written entry per shipweeks, but I also am doing some sketches and drawings! If you want to see some of them you can see my tumblr page: avidreader821 . tumblr . Com. Thanks for reading! Feel free to give me some concrit or tell me what your favorite part was!**


	34. Net Drama

**[34/100]**

 **Based on a prompt given to me by The Mysterious Q.**

 **TLC Shipweeks NET DRAMA.**

 **(I'm aware I literally just posted childhood.. but that was an accident! Oh stars I was SUPPOSED to post this.. oops. IF YOU READ CHILDHOOD YAY YOU GET TWO CHAPTERS TODAY! It will be re-posted on wednesday :))  
**

* * *

Peony felt her energy slip away into nothingness. _No_. She thought. _No no no no no_.

But it didn't matter anymore. It was her time.

If only her time on Earth wasn't so short. She didn't want to go yet. She wanted to see Europe and the American Republic. Not to mention try exotic foods and actually fall in love.

The last and only thing she could think was _it's so cold._

But behind that, there was another sensation. Pain? Sadness? Someone was shaking her, but everything was fuzzy.

A n _o Peony no_ drifted through her ears.

And then...

It felt like the warmest blanket had been placed over her small shoulders, and she wasn't freezing anymore.

That was when she realized that she was gone.

But in a way, she wasn't. She was staring at her own body, but from the outside. Her sight and hearing were still intact, but she couldn't smell or taste anything. And when she went to go comfort her grieving sister, she couldn't feel the coarse fabric of Cinder's tank top.

Peony cried along with Cinder, who had no tears but still sobbed softly. It was a different kind of crying for Peony, because while she could feel the sadness, it didn't ache her heart like it normally would, and no headache pounded against her temples.

She walked home with Cinder that day, even though no one was able to see her. Surprisingly, it wasn't scaring her like it did to people in old second era movies.

Peony knew she was passed on. She knew she belonged in this strange parallel dimension.

It was like that every day. She was there the whole time with Cinder, occasionally visiting her dreams.

She was there in France, when they first found Scarlet and Wolf, who she found adorable right from when she first saw them.

She was there when they kidnapped the emperor, and to her more than delight, she'd been there for all eighteen times he'd kissed Cinder on the Rampion, cheering them on every time.

It was just like watching a net-drama.

She'd been there when they'd met Maha Kesley.

By then Peony knew she was Cinder's guardian angel, there to support her.

And just as she'd been there through all those other events with Cinder, she was here now, as Cinder faced Levana.

No, Cinder, no. It was useless to speak. Thoughts, on the other hand, were much more valuable, as they didn't disappear into thin air.

She could only stare as Cinder was stabbed right in the heart.

Praying, Peony went over to her and started doing useless compressions.

But...

Instead of Peony's hands passing right through Cinder, she felt solid fabric. Tears fell out of her eyes as her hands moved quicker and quicker.

"Peony?" Cinder whispered before passing out.

She didn't stop. Refused to stop. It was not her time to die yet.

Later, as Cinder slept in the hospital and Peony was perched on a chair, she heard the doctors speak.

"... It's incredible. I don't know how her heart kept beating. Cyborg programming, maybe?"

"It must be," another whispered. "There's no other explanation."

It was then Peony knew why she was able to stay right by Cinder's side, even in a separate dimension. It was now as clear as day.

She'd been there to save Cinder.

An unnoticeable weight seemed to be lifted from her shoulders. It was the weight that had kept her on the ground. Her work was done, and she was no longer needed.

Her body seemed to float away, even though she could still see Cinder from up above. It was paradise. No one was unhappy for long periods of time, and anyone could see their family members as they pleased.

Peony watched her and Kai's wedding day and cried from happiness. It was a perfect wedding. Fit for an emperor or queen. If only she was there. Maybe, if she was still alive, she could've been Cinder's flower girl. Her current flower girl walked slowly down the aisle, dropping peony petals where

She went. That was the only thought that made her sad, but the feeling didn't linger long because of the sisterly love she had for Cinder.

Their first child was born a year later. He was an exact replica of Kai, except for his nose and a familiar glint of sarcasm in his eye she recognized right away from Cinder.

Their second child, Garan, was born a year and a half later, but had died on his second day of living because he had been born two months early.

Cinder and Kai had grieved for weeks, but what they didn't know is that their child had been sitting on Peony's lap the whole time they had grieved, just a small baby. He grew up in the afterlife quicker than he would've on Earth.

He watched them go through life just as she did, or was doing. They had a strong bond even though they weren't related at all. He was her best friend. It didn't help that he looked exactly like Cinder.

They grew old, yet their relationship grew stronger still. They had passed the throne to their first born, Rikan Junior. Exactly a year, three months, and twenty-eight days later they were blessed with not one but two grandchildren. Twins. And they spoiled them like crazy.

Peony couldn't have been prouder. Happiness overwhelmed her heart so much it hurt.

And when it finally was Cinder's time to pass on, she met Peony with a hug. Instead of being in her eighties, she was back into her twenties. Peony had stopped aging in her twenties as well.

Then she hugged her son, who she had not seen in over forty years. And for the first time, she actually cried legitimate tears.

Peony smiled as Cinder whispered in his ear. "I missed you."

"Me too," he said back softly.

"Love you, Garan," she told him.

"I love you too."

Kai came about two years later, also back to his twenties, and suddenly, they were a family again.

Kai's arm extended to Peony, his eyes were bright.

"I believe I owe you a dance."


	35. Childhood

**[35/100]**

 **A/N This chapter has been requested by an anon ask on Tumblr (I'm Avidreader821). To put it in a direct quote:**

 **"Can you do an AU where Cress and Thorne are childhood besties... I know it's been done, but I just love it"  
**

 **Here ya go, Anon! Enjoy!**

 **Also for the shipweeks: Childhood.**

 **~)0(~**

Cress giggled. "Tell me more!"

"If you say so," he replied with a laugh. "So there I was, confronting the high schoolers, and they started laughing!"

" _No!_ " she gushed. "At _you_?"

"I know right! Anyway, they were laughing, so I punched the big one right in the nose!"

Cress continued to gush in awe. There was no way he did that!

Cress stopped walking and thought for a moment. A warm summer breeze made her hair float around her face. "I know! We should play Captain and Damsel!"

His face lit up. "Good idea!"

Cress ended up giggling the whole time. Thorne was being dramatic. As usual.

Their voices halted when they reached Cress's shack for a house. As if gloom was just radiating from it, her mood fell considerably.

She leaned in for a hug. "Thanks, Captain. See you tomorrow?"

"'Course, my Damsel in Distress." He gave her a toothy grin.

"Promise?" Cress offered her pinkie.

He took it and nodded. He never broke those.

Carswell walked the opposite way of Cress when she turned and headed toward her house.

As soon as she was just about to open the door, she heard the screeching of tires and saw the flashing of headlights in her peripheral vision. A loud ear piercing screech cut through the air.

 _The world froze as she turned around._

 _She ran to the mangled limbs in the street._

 _"Carswell. No. No. NO. Carswell."_

 _She says nothing after that._

Eventually, she couldn't speak, even if she wanted to. Her vocal chords were too damaged from not using them.

And after all, he does visit her the next day. It was almost as if nothing had happened.

Until he disappeared, and she went back into her mute phase.

Sometimes she misses it. Singing... speaking...

It's fine, though. She still was able to speak to _him._ Every day, for hours if he was there. In school, at home, when she watched a funny YouTube video...

They have a special connection. More special than any other person.

Sometimes, at night, she can feel him playing with her hair. Wrapping the curly locks around her fingers.

It's been that way through years. He gave her hugs when she had a bad day in middle school. He held her hand when she was stressed out in high school.

She was never alone. Even when everyone else abandoned her, dubbing her a psychopath.

They couldn't see him.

The day comes later. Many, many years later. She's decades older than she was on that horrible day.

This time, she gives him a _real_ hug. Not one that he used to give her, with no feeling and only energy. There's actual feeling this time.

There's also feeling as he gave her a peck on the lips, hugging her back and saying "I've missed you."

* * *

 **Sorry not sorry ;)**


	36. Safe and sound

**[36/100]**

 **TLCSW: Safe and sound. (Wolflet)  
**

 **Thanks for reading!**

* * *

She flinched as splinters from the wooden floor inched into her feet, falling onto her butt. The floor continued to rise and inch it's way into her skin.

A yelp escaped her mouth as her hands reached the cold floor. Blood was leaking from everywhere, a deep crimson liquid. Scarlet hissed at the rancid smell and pain.

So much pain.

The floor opened up beneath her and she fell hard onto bloody. The scene changed to the kitchen.

The lights fell into an even more dim level, flooding the room with a sense of dread. On the counter to her right, thousand of maggots were crawling over something rotten. Her nose filled with the disgusting stench.

A shadowy figure rustled across her view when her eyes flicked back to the dark entryway, making her heart pound a thousand times an hour. Eyes wide, she gasped, "who's there?"

White sockets glowed through the darkness. Glistening white canines flashed at her in an evil grin as the tall man walked into her field of view.

Wolf.

Blood stained his hands and his clothes. Some was already dried, but some was still running down his arm. A knife was stationed in his left hand.

She screeched as he lunged toward her.

* * *

Her eyes bolted open and instantly focused on her red alarm clock numbers. The only other light in the room came from Luna, which was only a waxing crescent and did little to provide decent light.

Wolf was snoring to her left, like he usually was.

The summer heat was overbearing. Scarlet slipped out of the covers and left the stuffy little bedroom, slipping on her boots when she remembered her dream. No, nightmare.

This time the floor didn't attack her, which figures, but the thought still spooked her. Nightmares weren't at all common, even dreams. Most nights were either restless or dreamless.

Scarlet jumped when something brushed her leg. Heart pounding, she saw it was only the old barn cat ready for its morning meal.

Pushing herself against the wall she slid down, putting her face in her hands. If she had to be honest with herself, no matter how much she loved him, Wolf still scared her. After leaving Luna, it felt more awkward to be around him. The mutations the scientists did to him would take a lot of getting used to.

 _Suck it up, Scarlet,_ she told herself. You _chose_ him, _remember?_

Standing up, she dusted herself off and removed her boots, heading downstairs to get a glass of water.

The moon was just starting to dip into the horizon as she looked out the big window in the room. It seemed to vanish when she turned on the bright lights and squinted from the slight sting of it.

It was hard to imagine that her best friends were up on the big rock. They occasionally commed, but the connection was usually fuzzy.

She froze, still jumpy, when she heard the silent scrape of feet behind her.

"Scar?" He asked. His voice was rough yet still gentle, one of the qualities about him that Scarlet loved.

She turned. "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah," he bluntly stated. "But it's completely fine. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied, meaning she was not okay at all. He literally just scared the guts out of her and she just had a terrible nightmare about him.

In this very room.

"Are you sure? You look kind of pale."

"That's why I was getting water silly," she said, and downed the glass she had filled with ease. "I also think the AC blew out again. While we're up do you want to check?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Wolf let out a big yawn, exposing his teeth. Scarlet's nose scrunched up when his bad breath hit her in the face. It smelled like a dog's morning breath. Neutralizing her expression when his eyes opened back up, Scarlet led him to the basement in search of the broken machine.

"I might not be a mechanic like Cinder, but I _do_ know how to fix the AC. My grandma taught me way back when."

Instead of her head filling with a sad memory, it was filled with a happy one.

Both her and her grandmother were standing in the basement when the air conditioning had broke again.

"Can you take of the filter, Scar?" Michelle asked her.

"Sure." She put her hands on the large filter. Just pull it up?" The filter started to inch out immediately.

"Yes, but do it very-"

Scarlet yanked the filter out of it's place fast. Too fast.

Dust fell off of the screen in gallons, coating her red hoodie in a layer of thick brown dust.

"...slowly."

A "Scarlet" snapped her back into reality.

"Yeah. Can you take the filter out now that the cover's off? It's probably all gunked up and that's why the AC isn't working. I'll get the spare in storage."

The storage room surprisingly wasn't stuffy, much to her liking. The spare filter was tucked nice and neatly in the corner, just where she left it a year ago.

She heard a shout and a _thud_ from the room over.

"Wolf!" Scarlet yelped, dashing back to the room.

He was lying on the floor, covered in an inch of dust. She smiled and began to laugh as Wolf opened up his eyes and sneezed. Three times.

"À tes souhaits," she murmured against her laughing. "Here." Scarlet extended her arm to him.

Wolf took it but didn't put any pressure on it, getting up on his own.

"I can take it from here. Do you want to go back to bed?"

A wave of confliction swept across his face. "Are you sure?"

She rolled her eyes. "Go to bed, Ze'ev."

"Okay, Scarlet. You have the power here."

He took her into a hug. "Thanks, Scar."

She savored the moment, feeling very comfortable for once. Safe and sound.

Nodding against his chest, she mumbled, "I'll be up in a bit. See you in the morning."


	37. Rainy Day

**[37/100]**

 **Kaider: Rainy Day.**

* * *

 _Rainy_

The rain lets out a loud hiss  
Attention is not turned toward the attention seeking weather,  
Rather  
The two figures in the center of it all, one being a man and one being a woman

A _pitter-patter_ stains the window  
It not dare be left out.

But they do anyway.

Her lips ghost along his jaw, down his neck.  
His reciprocate hers, but higher, with more pressure.

" _More,"_ she whispers as the light level dips.  
The weather growls hungrily outside  
Thunder cracks impatiently with the wind

The rain's tears ran down the window in an endless sob  
Moans of appreciation floated from the two figures  
to the lamenting glass.

 _Day_

* * *

 **SUPER IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: First thanks for reading! This is just a little poem I did :)  
**

 **SECOND: I am thinking about splitting OneShots into TWO separate fics, 50 chapters each. You see, I feel like I have improved a lot since I first started, and I don't want people thinking that the first few chapters of this fic reflect ALL of this fanfiction. I'm going to set up a poll. Vote if I should keep this fic all together or if I should continue it after I reach 50 chapters in a separate fic. If I start a separate fic, it will continue with chapter 51 like nothing happened.**

 **YOU CAN VOTE BY GOING TO MY PROFILE PAGE!**

 **THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WILL BE MADE IN ALL FOLLOWING CHAPTERS. Thanks for understanding!**


	38. Stories

**[38/100]**

 **Poll on my profile is still active. If you haven't voted already, please vote now! (See last chapter for explanation)  
**

 **Please review if you enjoyed. Feel free to give me some concrit or tell me what I can change to improve. Thanks!**

 **Kaider: Stories**

* * *

The hourglass figure on the bed stirred only slightly, but her breathing remained steady. It was nearly all dark in the room, save for Luna's light coming in through the huge glass windows.

He wondered if she was awake, and his thought was answered when he heard her softly murmur: "Tell me a story."

She shifted and his perspective changed. Instead of looking at the back of her head, he saw the many strands that were falling down her face and in front of her eyes.

Brushing them away and kissing her forehead, he whispered back, "sure."

"A long time ago- more like just a few years ago, actually," he let out a laugh. "There was a man. He was focused on his business. So much that it took away almost all of his personality and put most of his focus on profit."

She sighed. "This sounds _really_ cliche Kai."

"You caught me. It is."

Cinder inched to him. He filled the gap and pulled her to him.

"I have an idea," he said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Kai confirmed. "Let's make our own story."

"Okay." She smiled. "I'll start. About a year ago, there was a lowly mechanic who had to live with her evil guardian."

He nodded with confidence, also flashing a smile at her. "One day, a prince came to her booth because his android broke. He liked her from when he saw her."

"After that, the mechanic's evil guardian sold her for disease testing." Her eyes lowered shyly. "The prince saw her there, but what he didn't know was that she was a cyborg."

"I had a few assumptions."

"Hey, keep it flowing. We're speaking in third person here."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay. Anyway, she showed up in tatters at the yearly ball."

"Right after she was warned that an evil queen was about to assassinate the prince, don't forget."

The mattress dipped, but it didn't groan. Cinder flopped onto her back and pulled a fluffy pillow to her chest as he nodded.

"At the ball he found out she was _not_ who she said she was."

They fell into silence.

"I'm still sorry about that."

"Cinder..." He sat up, saying "lights on" and pulling her with him. Her eyes squinted from shock.

"Cinder, look at me," she looked into his eyes. Her irises were the shade of chocolate, and lighter near the pupil.

"I don't care if you're Earthen, Lunar, cyborg or not. I don't care. And you shouldn't either."

She planted a small kiss on his lips and smiled. "I guess I have to find a rebound."

"Not tonight," he said, and this time he kissed her. "Lights off."

She lied back down, yawned, and said, "Thanks for the story, Kai."


	39. Chapter 39

**[39/100]**

 **Please note poll is still open! Please go vote to decide the fate of Oneshots. Thanks to Banana Kisses for beta reading!  
**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Peony threw her head on the table, letting out a loud, dramatic sigh. Cinder, from across the table, heard her mutter something colorful and "impossible."

"Uh..." Cinder paused. "Are you okay?"

The netscreen's blue images faded away, leaving the display blank. Cinder had been looking at it for so long the whole room seemed to darken, which was probably just her synthetic eyes acting up. Peony had tucked herself in her arms, as if to hide from the offending sight. The light was no longer reflecting off the walls and the shiny, freshly cleaned table which Cinder had polished that morning.

"No! This _stupid_ teacher assigned these _stupid_ robotics problems that I have no idea how to do! It's ridiculous!" She banged her hand on the table, leaving a very obvious hand print. Cinder almost cringed. If Peony kept this up, she'd have to repolish the whole table.

"Maybe I can help you with it?" Cinder offered. It was the least she could do for her. Peony always showed her kindness, unlike Pearl and Adri. And she'd only been living there for about a year.

"I guess. But this is hard stuff, Cinder. I know you're older, but it'll probably be hard for you too."

"Let me see it."

Peony opened back up the tab after staring at her Prince Kai screensaver for a few seconds. The problem, surprisingly, was simple. Of course, any question about android inner workings was simple. Especially one about sensors.

"Ah, I see," Cinder said to her. "It's a fairly easy answer, actually, but many android questions are." She gestured to the diagram. "See this orange wire? It's what connects the optic sensor to the audio sensor. So, if this wire was disconnected..?" She asked, basically answering the question.

"Then the android couldn't pick up voices or sense when things move?"

"Exactly!"

Peony typed her answer and submitted it. Then she turned to face her, her expression in pure shock. "How are you that smart?"

"I'm just good with mechanics." She shrugged and felt like if she could, she would be blushing. "I'm not spectacular with much else."

"What about this next question?"

It was fairly similar to the last, except this time it was more directed toward the exoskeleton and the center belt that held it all together. The model even had it highlighted in a bright yellow hue. Cinder pointed to it. "See the center belt here? And all those bolts in it."

Peony nodded hesitantly. "So the function, if it's in the center, probably has to do with holding the android together?" Her tone went up slightly at the end of the sentence, making it sound hopeful.

"Yes!" Cinder exclaimed, "without the belt, the other half of the android would fall right off. Can you imagine having half of Iko?"

Peony giggled, typing the correct answer into the small box at the bottom of the screen. "One day will you show me what these wires and widgets and things do, okay?" She adjusted her chair and exited out of the questions once again. "Promise me you will?" Her gaze was rather intense, unlike her light attitude.

"Sure. Of course," said Cinder, smiling. Maybe if she was lucky, Peony would be able to help her at the booth on select days too, though it was unlikely. Adri would never allow it, and even Peony would object. Still...

"Maybe one day you can come to the booth with me and you can see a little bit more in depth to this."

Peony squealed. "Maybe my robotics teacher will give me extra credit!"

Rolling her eyes, Cinder offered her human hand. "Shake on it?"

She took it in return. "It's a deal."


	40. Chapter 40

**[40/100]**

 **Lovelunarchron gave me the prompt:**

 **I'm a lawyer and I started crying whilst interrogating you and oh my god what are you doing you I'm just an angry-crier get back in the witness box.**

 **So, yeah. Well played, LLC.**

* * *

The judge's black robe floated around her waist as she made her way to the official wooden stand, calling order to the whispering, angry looking jury who obviously did not want to be there.

Cress understood. She was starting to get exhausted herself, despite her ever-present nerves. While she knew every law inside and out, like the palm of her hand, speaking was always her downfall. She always spoke quietly, which caused most people to run to more professional, well-spoken lawyers. Most of those other lawyers-while they were good speakers–hardly knew the law as much as she did. Someone in the back yawned and began twitching their fingers on the bench in front of them.

The other lawyer, a poised Asian man with dark hair, looked perfectly prepared. Ready to attack her own argument. However, she was positive nothing could counter it. After all, she had found several loopholes in the law that made her client's actions perfectly legal. She was only there because of an opinion, as it were.

And the defendant was sure loud when expressing it.

Her own client seemed to be prepared as well. Her argument to the judge was valid, to say the least. Each side had their fair share of witnesses also, who were most likely forced to come by the looks on their faces.

"We will now proceed to hear the witnesses," the judge said. Stern as a headmistress, Cress wished that she could speak like her, eloquent and demanding, but with a hint of sympathy. The way she should be speaking. Cress was constantly disappointed by how she could barely even say more than was expected from a law textbook.

She and 'Kaito', the other lawyer, were to take turns questioning the witnesses. It wasn't how the court cases she went to usually worked, but the judge insisted it was more efficient and reliable. She did not, however, clarify her reasons for doing so, which made Cress question her intentions slightly.

He investigated a tall, messy girl who looked like a slob. It was almost painfully obvious that Kaito took an interest in her, however. _So unprofessional_ , she thought, and focused on the subject.

"So, Cinder, what were you doing on February twenty-fifth, of this year at three P.M.?" He questioned with a white smile, as if this was a light conversation. On the other hand, Cress nearly scoffed at his ability to keep a straigh t face. Sure, she had a hard time speaking, but at least 90% of the time she could normally keep her professional face on. That was what it was all about. Professionalism.

"I was working in my employer's car garage from 10 A.M. that day until about six P.M. that night." That explained it. She was a mechanic. "I was working on one of my customer's car when I was called by Mr. Thorne," she gestured to her opponent's defendant, "and he asked me to come to the scene, which I did."

Cress got distracted when she noticed someone sitting in the jury box. A _gorgeous_ someone. His hair was perfectly gelled above his brow, and his eyes flashed with mischief. Unlike the others sitting around him, he looked happy. Well, almost. More distracted than anything. Apparently the window was very interesting.

When his head turned, Cress moved her head before he caught her staring. _Professionalism_. She wasn't allowed to speak or see any of the witnessed before now, so it was a shock indeed. A blush crept onto her neck and she almost slapped herself.

Kaito was just about finished. Cinder looked like she was about to throw up, as if the man had told her some disgusting fact, or he might've just flirted with her. Her eyes and neck were stiff, as she was holding something down; she also was clutching her stomach, which seemed, at least to Cress, to act as a dead giveaway.

She cleared her throat. It was her turn.

"Can Carswell Thorne please come to the stand now?" Asked the judge in a low tone.

The young man Cress was looking at before stood up. She almost squeaked as he went past her. "Crescent Moon Darnel will be questioning you today," said the judge while gesturing at her. Thorne winked and nodded.

She stood up, going through her list of questions she had asked a million times, but the first one refused to come out.

"Uh–I mean, Mr. Thorne–"

"Call me Thorne," he interjected, leaving her flustered and flushed. The blue flame in his eyes was as bright as ever when he smiled. _This is a client. This is a client. This is a client_ , she mentally chanted. _That's all he is_.

She forced her chin up, straightening her back. "We don't have time for this, Mr. Thorne. This is a courtroom." She forced her breath through her nose. "Where were you and what were you doing on February twenty-fifth of this year at three P.M.?" She managed to get out. Her voice was so small.

"Well Darling," Cress blushed and her throat tightened. "I had off work that day, so I was at my home the whole twenty-four hours."

"A-and from what I know, y-you live very close to my client, correct?" She asked, stuttering. It felt everyone in the jury was staring at her. Their eyes seemed to be boring into her head. Her eyes went dry and a familiar pressure built up behind them. He was staring at her.

"Yeah. We've been long time friends and neighbors."

 _Calm down, Cress. Calm down, Cress._

She nodded and turned to the judge, who must've seen her eyes turning puffy. "Excuse me, your honor, may I request a short recess."

Her brown eyes turned sympathetic but still remained hard and judge-like as she gave a stiff nod. "We will have a 15 minute recess."

Cress rushed out and wiped her sleeve against her eyes. She was being ridiculous. No one was staring at her. It was all in her head. Yet the tears still came. Cress still could feel the strong emotion in her stomach. Then, anger. She was angry at herself. She snapped in court. She gave in this man's antics. Why would she just randomly request a recess while in the middle of a questioning? Her fist slammed against the wall.

 _Professionalism, Cress. Professionalism._


	41. Chapter 41

**[41/100]**

* * *

 _I'm alive_ , was the first thing she thought when she opened her eyes. Sleep crusted her eyes, but when she moved to wipe it away, a sharp pain shot through her back like a wildfire. Her nose scrunched and her teeth clenched to keep from moaning. The first few days would be the worst, according to the men in white coats and stethoscopes hanging around their necks. There were some ladies too, but not as many.

There was a breathing mask shoved over her face, which was starting to annoy her slightly with the way the pressure had been in the same spot for several hours. Her hand moved ever so slowly to remove it, careful not to set any more nerve alarms off. But someone's hand clasped hers before she could remove it. _Jacin?_ She thought. But it wasn't him. It was an old, grey-haired man. Through the ringing in her ears, she heard him say, "No, Princess."

She stopped and he put her head down gently by her side. "Where's Jacin?" She tried to say through the mask, but her vocal cords were strained and her mouth was dry from constant airflow.

"Who, Miss?" He asked back.

"Jacin," she attempted to say again. _Where's Jacin?_ Her heart began thumping loudly. Unfortunately, it was attached to the heart monitor, so the doctor easily noticed and rushed to check her stats.

"Are you okay, Princess? I can assure you that everything is fine." Except, it was not fine. Where was Jacin? Why wasn't he here? More questions swirled in her head.

For the next few days, Jacin still refused to come, which made Winter nervous further.

* * *

 _"Look Daddy! This is my new friend!" She said to her father._

 _"Where is he?" Everet asked in a light tone. "Is he invisible?"_

 _Winter giggled like the little girl she was. She gestured to the boy next to her. "See? He's right next to me. With the blue eyes and the light hair?"_

 _He looked confused for another moment, but then a smirk grew on his face. "What's his name? Jacin? Hirum? Morni?"_

 _"Uh..." she looked a little confused. "The first one!"_

 _Her imaginary friend nodded next to her. "I like it!"_

 _"Jacin it is."_

* * *

That one day when Jacin actually showed up seemed so precious now. Something that should always be cherished and never forgotten. No one else knew him except her, which made memories increase that much more in value.

It all made sense. He was an illusion, a fake character her mind made up to relieve her of the painful hallucinations, yet he was a hallucination himself. No wonder everyone always gave her that constant empty stare.

Then it occurred to her; Jacin wouldn't be coming back.

 _Rest in peace, my mental friend._

She always thought it would get better, but it never did. All her days seemed to be lonely. Well, most of them. When Scarlet came to occasionally visit it wasn't as bad. Her red curls and sassy attitude were intriguing as ever. But besides that, the rising sun never came. Every slow day just dragged her down.

Most people said that she started to act somewhat normal, at least. That is, not constantly rambling random words and acting nonhuman. And she could say that she didn't miss some of them, like turning into ice, but she did miss one above all.

* * *

It was time for this to stop.

Winter screamed. Screamed like she'd never see light again. Screamed like there was a monster under her bed. Screamed like she would never see her best friend again.

As planned, she was given instant attention. Guards, doctors, and even Selene came to her, probably just to see if she was once again crazy or actually had a physical problem. She told them that her chip had been broken for several months, and that the visions were starting to come back just then.

They extracted her 'broken' chip eventually, and tried to put a new one in right away, but she objected and told them to wait until she was ready. They let her off hard, but she still was able to escape their constant appointments and calls instructing her to get a new chip. Not even a new chip. _Apparently_ her old chip had not been broken in the first place.

She waited weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into a year.

A whole year before her favorite vision came back

It was early in the morning when she was just waking up, a gentle rap was played on her door. It wasn't like a servant's knock, which was always loud and disrupting, but this was more like a short tune.

"Come in," she replied to the knock. A familiar blonde ponytail slipped in the room. The rising sun came back that day with a small, modest smile.

She chose illusions over clear vision.  
She chose happiness over a clear mind.  
She chose her best friend over everybody else.

And it wasn't just her friend that came back. All the other illusions came back too.

They were as terrifying as ever. Mobs with large teeth and canines jumped from the ceiling and made her scream and cry. Ice would sometimes encase her body, and the walls still continued to bleed.

But what really mattered was that she was happy, with her friend.

And this time it was going to stay that way.

* * *

 **IMPORTANT: This is an AU. Before you review, telling me that this is not possible, I'm aware that this is not possible. (HENCE AU) The Mysterious Q gave me the Prompt/Headcannon and I wrote this on it.**

 **Please review and tell me if you liked, or what you liked. Any Constructive Criticism is appreciated if you have the time. Thanks.**


	42. Chapter 42

**[42/50]**

 **As you can see, major title change. Explanation AND ANNOUNCEMENTS are in bottom authors note if you care to read.**

 **...**

Her eyes were deep, sky-blue oceans. Thorne could swear that if he stared at them long enough, he's dive in and start to swim. Her pink, cotton-candy lips formed the cutest, most innocent smile he'd ever even seen. It lit up his entire day, when she smiled like that, because it lit up her eyes just in that certain way.

He took one of her hands in his and noticed how different their sizes were. Letting out a laugh, he grabbed her other one and looked at her sweet face once again.

Then, his own lips were on hers. He couldn't help it; they were his addiction. They were smooth and soft and perfect and oh this girl made him weak in the knees. He noticed she was standing on her toes, so he brought her down to the floor of the Rampion.

She sat in his lap as his lips moved from her mouth to her jaw, in a soft spot he knew she loved. He groaned as she started making little noises herself, and he knew she was blushing. Her face always turned the most delightful shade of pink. He drew back to look at her flushed cheeks.

Then, she smiled deliriously, her happiness abundant. Her hair was starting to frizz a little at the top, which added to her overall adorable-ness. This time, he craned his neck and began to leave a trail of kisses along her skin, all the way down to her collarbone.

"Cress?" Thorne whispered to her.

"Hm?"

"I think I'm in love with you."

Her face fell into a scowl. " _Love_?"

That look, of annoyance, distaste and anger, made him stop dead in his tracks. He didn't understand. Slowly, Cress' hand came up behind his neck and tightly pinched his skin. With the pain, he drifted awake. No longer was he in the dream.

His sweaty hands clutched the covers of his thin blanket. He forced a shaking breath, and he flushed. Around him, it was dark. Of course it was still dark. His eyes hadn't healed yet. He was still blind.

He wiped the sweat from his brow. It had all been a dream. Cress had been a dream.

A vivid one at that.

Shaking off the remnants of this lucid fantasy, he pondered grabbing his cane and going off for a walk. As far as lustful dreams went, that one had been pretty tame, but he still couldn't ignore the heat in his cheeks. It was both bothersome and pleasant.

But the memory of her irritated scowl when he said ' _I love you_ ' made the feeling grow cold. Deep down, he couldn't ignore the fear of rejection. He knew that his promiscuity bothered her. That his flirtations made her angry. That if she continued to see him like that, if he didn't stop throwing his affections around like they were nothing, she would never trust him as far as she could spit.

He took a seat when he reached the infamous cockpit. So much had happened in this very room, and more bad than good, to his dismay.

His breathing became heavy in the silence.

He had _a lot_ to think about.

 **...**

 **First, I want to thank Banana Kisses for being a beautiful beta.  
**

 **Second, the reason for my title change is lack of support. Recently, people have been saying "Oh please write me Kaider," or, "Write Kaider to [prompt]." Listen, I never opened up prompt request through reviews. I take prompts, but only if I am directly speaking to a person. If you had a prompt, you can contact me directly. But what bothers me is that these people seem to not appreciate what I've already written. Like, is all I'm good for is writing Kaider? Another review I have received is "This is sweet, but they're.. Lacking something." You can look. That review was my breaking point. Some said this was concrit, when it is not because that is all it said. Like, Explain yourself? I see ALL these reviews! Some others have said "I'm just reviewing to make you happy." Again, you can look.**

 **I've found that if it will be like that for about 60 more chapters, I would not be able to continue further. So, for now my goal will be 50, but if I'm up to it I might extend to 75.. ect. Maybe I will reach 100. Thank you for those who do support me and have supported me. I plan to start a brand new, long term fic.**

 **Third, I got a cover for this fic! I held the contest on my tumblr. The winner is TheLunar-CkSwCtWj! Mirrors-never-lie on Tumblr. It's beautiful, so thank you.**


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